Opening Statement

First I want to give a happy birthday shout-out to the best president in the land, President Ono. And then just so thankful for our seniors, what they've done here. You know, right now, 51-8 record. Just awesome to be a part of their growth and their maturation as young men and players. Just so happy for them to get their last one here in the big house. Questions?

On the key to the second half with the running game success

I thought we did a good job formationally adjusting and helping the box fronts. You know, sometimes you get a lot of people in the box and it's hard to run. Some formations dictate that they can. Some formations dictate that they can't. I also thought the guys just moved their guys more. And we did a really good job fundamentally playing with lower hats, better hands. And Kalel obviously got it going really early, you know, with a huge run. So I think that momentum was great.

On the last drive of the first half

Yeah, it was awesome. It was great to see. It was great for our defense to get a stop, hold, and then for our offense to go down and score. So it was a huge part and great momentum shifting into the second half.

On what worked during the bye week

I mean, we really locked into the little things. We called it buy-in week. Again, I said that was Max Bredesen's idea. I'm not going to take the credit for that. So I thought all the guys did a really good job of doing the little things and attacking. And it really started that Monday. We had a scout team practice, and that's probably the most energetic practice, especially on a Monday we've had. And then coming in after a loss, for those guys to be like that and to buy in like that meant a lot. It talks about the culture and where these guys are and where we are. They just worked on the little things, and then this week they practiced really well with a lot of energy. So it was fun to be a part of.

On scoring 50 points heading into Ohio State week

Yeah, great momentum. Great momentum, but we all know what that game means. It's a reset. It doesn't really matter what your record is. It doesn't really matter what you've done before. That game's different. So we've got to go prepare.

On what Davis Warren has done to work on his game and what he means as a person

I mean, just what a selfless guy first, because when you're the starter and you get benched, you can easily have a selfless, negative attitude. He was the complete opposite. He was an outstanding teammate. He's just a tireless worker. His process never changed. He continued to get better and be a great example of what you want for a kid that's been through so much in his life. He's just a great example. He's a great example for me. He's a great example for our team. Just because you get knocked down or you're put in a position that doesn't mean you stop working. He's been outstanding for us.

On whether he believes this is the most complete game of the season

Yeah. I mean, I would say so, for sure. The totals will say so. The stats on defense, we had eight tackles for loss, six sacks, 25 guys had tackles. On offense, putting up 50 points and being balanced, over 200 yards rushing and almost 200 yards passing. So, yeah, I'd say complete for sure.

On whether he feels like the team is peaking at the right time

Yeah. Always the right time to do it. You've got to go play those matches.

On Colston Loveland's status

Yeah, just working through something. We'll see what they say when we go see the doctors.

On the number switch for Jyaire Hill

Yeah, just something we're doing internally. We'll work through internally.

On playing the best right before a big game

Yeah, because it's the next game. It's another opportunity. Senior Day is the last game of the Big House. There's so many reasons. Bowl eligibility. There's so many reasons that it was easy for our guys to just keep attacking it. Like I said before, another opportunity to put on that helmet and jersey. Can we ever think that any game is a trap game or overlook anybody, especially when you're at Michigan?

On explaining the week he's had keeping his team in the moment

I mean, again, same thing. Just the opportunity to go to a bowl game. The opportunity to play the Big House the last time for our seniors. Go win for them. That was really the focus.

On whether he feels like the program has momentum

Yeah, I think there is. But our number one goal now, obviously there's stuff we've got to do off the field, but our number one now is to go prepare to go win that game next week.

On the importance of the game against Ohio State

It's everything. Our building, it's all over the place. We think about it 365, so it's the most important thing to us.

On recruiting success adding juice to the staff

That's the standard we want. We want to recruit at a high level. Regardless of who the recruits are or who we recruit, that's separate to our team. That's the future team. For us, it was about our preparation for Northwestern. It'll be about our preparation for Ohio State.

On Colston Loveland

He's unbelievable. You talk about a guy that just works from Gooding, Idaho. Very unknown. He's come in here and been a name in college football that everybody knows. He's just outstanding in every way. It's a blessing to be around. It's a pleasure to be around in every way. I'm just glad we got him.

On his thoughts on the defense

Two picks, a whole bunch of passing plays. They couldn't get the run game going. There was very little they could do to pass game. The coverage was extremely tight. Especially if you get six sacks, it's hard to throw the ball. Eight tackles for loss. The run game's not going so it seems like they were just searching. They couldn't really do much because our defense was playing so well. Just credit to them, credit to the staff, credit to the players and how they prepared and how they played.

On Jordan Marshall's production during the game

He's a stud. He's an absolute stud. He's going to be really good. We'll dictate how good he's going to be as we go through the years, but he's a star in the making.

On the optics on the program this week

I really don't care about the outside opinion. Really we worry about what we can control and that's it. Whether it was last year or this year, we just operate the same way and just try to go win the next game.

On whether he was more involved in the offense or whether it's people wanting to see it

I think that's what people want to see.

On the game plan Kirk Campbell called

I thought he did a great job. Very balanced, complete, and the kids executed really well. Those guys played at a high level, so it was really good to see.

On the younger players catching his eye

I thought all those guys played well. Jordan obviously was more the future guy, but you saw Micah Ka'apana get the ball later on. He's lightning in a bottle. Those young guys are going to be really good. The whole freshman class. Mason Curtis got his first pick. He's been playing really well. He's an absolute stud. A young guy. He's not a freshman, but Brandyn Hillman, he's played well. There's a whole bunch of young guys that are really good. Just excited for the whole crew.

On Mason Curtis' growth this season

The crazy thing is he got on campus and we really didn't know where we were going to play him. He was 6'4", 6'5". He's long. He's like Spider-Man out there, just roaming the field. SAM, played SAM. He played receiver. He played D-end. He played safety in high school. He played all those positions in high school, so we're trying to figure out where we best fit. He ended up with safety, and he's just been unbelievable. He's a tireless worker. Great human being, but he's got a great skill set. He's going to be really good.

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