On whether he was able to refresh during the bye week

Yeah, I mean, a little bit. You know, coaches went out recruiting, I went out recruiting. You know, we got some practices in with the guys, and they had a couple days, and then came back on Sunday, had a good practice, and yeah, ready to roll.

On whether he's able to watch film while on the road recruiting

Oh yeah, the iPads are out on the plane, watching every piece of practice, looking at the practice again, looking at film. So yeah, there's a break a little bit, but you're still locked into what you're doing.

On what he saw from the team over the bye week

Yeah, I mean, same thing. Sunday they came out, super high energy. It's kinda crazy, so, you know, Tyler McLaurin, he's a Q, and they started playing the dog song, and he started doing his dance. It was just like, it was very just natural, and like, unintended, and it was just, the energy was like, at a super high, and it was cool to watch the players just, you know, come off of a couple days, and resurge, and really refocus again. So like, everybody was pushing each other to make each other better, so it was a really good day.

On capturing the energy and making it last the final two weeks

Yeah, I think, you know, one, I think both of these games mean a lot, right? One, the Northwestern game is a trophy game. You know, we're 2-0 in trophy games. It allows us to be bowl eligible, which is a huge piece, and then obviously the last one, there's not much motivation you need for that one, so I think these two games are huge for us.

On what being bowl eligible means for the program and younger players

Yeah, it's great. It's, one, it's great for the whole team to get extra practice, but especially our young guys that we're trying to develop, and make sure they're ready for next year, so it's gonna be huge for us, and then it also allows, like we've got some incoming freshmen that are able to early enroll, and we've done this in the past, and they'll be able to come and practice with the team, and that's gonna be huge for us, so we're excited about that.

On who is standing out the during practice

Yeah, the guy that really, really took a next step, and he'll be implemented in the game plan a little bit more this week is Micah Kaapana. Very shifty, great contact balance. He's small, but he's not little, and the dude plays with power. He plays strong, but he's super fast. I mean, I think he had a game in high school where he had five carries, and he had five touchdowns, so the dude's really, really dynamic. He's got ability to be dynamic, so I'm excited to see what he does with the ball in his hands.

On the balancing act of determining redshirt status

Yeah, one, you like to have the conversations with them and see where they're at mentally, because you wanna make a decision that's not all the best for the team. That's number one, but really, the kids are part of it, and understanding where their mind's at. Most of these kids really don't care either way, but I also don't wanna burn their redshirt on one or two plays, so if they're gonna contribute to the offensive, defensive, special teams at a high volume, then yeah, let's do it, but if they're not, then we won't.

On what the conversations are like with the family regarding redshirts

Yeah, same conversation, just asking the parents what their thoughts are, and then giving them our perspective of what we've done already, in the past of, the four-game redshirt rule is here, and we can use it, and allow those guys to play, but if he plays six or seven, it might be because he's playing impactful moments in the game, and you don't get better at it by not playing it, so you gotta continue to do it, especially in game-like environments.

On Davis Warren taking steps

I think, really, the big piece, like we've talked about, of not turning the football over, he continues to do that. Taking those shots down the field, and not being afraid to do it, and he's done it at a really good level in practice, and I just wanna see that carry over in the game.

On making a player feel confident taking shots down field after early turnover troubles

I think just continual support of positivity, especially for a quarterback. I've never played the position, but especially being around coach, that's the one position you had to coach a little bit differently, because they got the ball in their hands all the time. They gotta make every decision. Every decision's not gonna be perfect, but you gotta make sure you support them in the decisions, and then the gray area decisions, you gotta just say, if you went with it, that was your gut. So for us, we gotta continue to do that in a positive manner for him.

On continuing to develop Alex Orji

Yeah, same way. Push him, put him, and both of them, we put them in uncomfortable positions to see how they react, and he's continuing to do the same thing.

On whether both Warren and Orji will play

Yeah, for sure.

On the receivers being more available

I think, really, just the separation that they're promoting in practice and the separation they're doing in game is really good. Their route detail's been better, and we're just getting more shots down the field for them, and that's just been an emphasis for us and for me.

On balancing giving Colston Loveland more exposure vs. developing younger talent

I think when you got a guy like Colston, you gotta let him roll, especially in these last two games that are must-wins. So there's a balance. You wanna play those guys, but you gotta let the big dog roll.

On Hogan Hansen

Yeah, he had a little, working through something last week, but he'll be back. So he's been great. He's just climbing and climbing. He's got an opportunity to be special.

On the offensive line

Yeah, Myles, Priebe, Crippen, Gio will be back, and then Evan, Gentry's out for the rest of the year, and he'll be back in the spring. But yeah, those will be the starting five, and I think Persi's gonna try to, he's been working through an injury, and he's pushing for Wednesday to try to come back to practice. So we'll see how he does there, but ready for those guys to keep rolling.

On the offensive line depth

Yeah, obviously, we've practiced guys at different positions. I've practiced Josh at tackle if we need be. Andrew Sprague is another guy, and then Don Gadees is one in there and played guard last game. So I feel like we got some guys that can go in there and help.

On whether it's weird to face a guy like AJ Henning who he recruited

It's crazy, because I recruited A.J., so I've had a great relationship with his mom, his family, and him, and he's an outstanding young man, and I understand why he moved there and went there. But yeah, he's a dynamic player. He always has been, but it is different to go over there and see the sideline. I'm sure I'll give him a big hug before and after the game, because he's an outstanding kid. But yeah, it's different, and that's the age of college football we're in now.

On how much contact he's allowed to have with a player after they transfer

Yeah, I can't have really any contact with him. If he reaches out to me and says hello or something, then I'll say like, hello back, or I can't talk to you. But really, it's just, you know, when I see him on the field, I know he'll, I mean, knowing the kid, he's just such an upbeat and joyful kid. I'm sure he'll be hugging half the team, guys he knows. So you can't have much contact with him off the field, though.

On whether Kalel Mullings will play a larger role this week

Yeah, for sure. He'll for sure get more carries, and he didn't get as many in the first half, and, you know, wanted to get, Dono, you know, practiced well, Ben practiced well, Kalel practiced well, too. But really, he's working those guys in, and then in the second half, Kalel got more.

On whether Jordan Marshall will get snaps this week

Yeah, I mean, I think he'll get a couple. It's just so hard with, it's one ball, four really good players, and you had Micah Capon in there. There's another one, so you gotta manipulate different ways to get those guys on the field, but we'll see him at some point during the game.

On what he wants to see from the offense coming out of the bye week

I wanna see those guys, you know, start up front, run off the football, play violent, execute at a high level, and I just wanna see the offense, you know, really do a great job on third down, and when we get to the red zone, we get down to the low red zone, and we gotta go score.

On Will Johnson's status

Yeah, he's working through it, man. He keeps pushing, trying to get through it, so we'll see this week.

On the injury staus of the entire defense

I think all those guys are gonna be back. I think everybody up front's healthy. They all feel fresh off the bye week. Back-end guys are good. Yeah, obviously Rod's still out, but yeah, all those guys are good.

On the pressure the defensive front had against Indiana

Yeah, I think they're doing a really good job of, because I think he'd been sacked four times all year, and they got four sacks on him. And TJ Guy had two, but those guys are just doing a really good job of mixing up looks, and it's not necessarily a lot of blitzing, it's just pressures, four-man rushes, different ways, twists, picks, all those things. And I thought Wink did an outstanding job scheming up that offense, because they score a lot of points.

On the difficulty of rushing four and dropping seven on defense

Yeah, it's a pain in the butt. It's not fun at all. You have to figure out ways to offset that. I have ways that I've obviously had to deal with, so I'm not gonna put that out, but they've done an outstanding job, and it makes it hard for offenses to execute.

On how Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant have been so disruptive

I mean, as dominant as any unit in college football, I would say, when those two are in the game at the same time, they're violent. They're physical, they can stop the run, they can rush the passer, so they've been awesome.

On the younger players showing up in practice

Yeah, Trey Pierce is a guy. He's played in games, but he doesn't show up on the statutes a lot, but he does his job at a high level, and he's really getting better and better and better. Enow Etta, he keeps showing up. Cam Brandt is another guy that keeps taking steps forward, and I'm excited to watch those guys keep blossoming.

On what Ernest Hausmann and Jaishawn Barham have been working on last week

Yeah, they were really working on the details of the little things of, whether it was a blitz, playing with your hands and run, dropping in the right depth and coverage. Those are things they were working on, and those guys are tireless workers, and they keep doing it.

On getting back to basics

Yeah, yeah, just get back to the fundamentals, the basics of, yeah, your why, but the basics of how you do it and what you're doing, and that usually comes to solve the problems.

On what Zeke Berry has been able to do in recent weeks

I mean, he's been unbelievable, and Zeke, just selfless, tireless worker, hard worker, great kid, and got immense talent, so to be able to go out and play nickel, and then all of a sudden, hey, go play corner. Now he's playing corner. First time playing corners against Oregon, playing against, gets a pick here at nickel, so the dude's been unbelievable, and so glad we got him.

On expectations for Makari Paige and the captains the last two weeks

Yeah, I mean, I think I can answer that with, last week I had my captains meeting, and right after the captain meeting, they also, they wanted to speak to the team, so I had my team meeting, and they all came out and talked about what they wanted to do, how they wanted this to look, and what we need to do as a team to go win, so it was pretty powerful, and it was awesome to see.

On keeping the team focused on Northwestern

They know the focus that we have to have, because they're a good football team, and we gotta go win this one, and then I think the motivation that you have to go play that team down there is, it's always burning in you, you're always thinking about it, regardless of who you're playing, so we'll be, we know we'll be prepared for that one, but we gotta go win this game.

On the challenges NW's offense presents

Yeah, the quarterback is good. He's a dual-threat guy. He can pull the ball and run it if you allow him to. Does a good job in the pocket in the pass game. He's not really a pocket passer, but he can make plays in the pocket, and he does a good job making scramble plays and the off-schedule plays. The line's physical, and the running back runs really well in downhill.

On the keys to limiting a dual-threat QB

It's always about really the rush lanes in the passing game. It's making sure he stays in that pocket, and you force him to stay in that pocket, because usually a lot of dual threat quarterbacks, when they, you know, when they're the most dangerous is when they get out in space, because he can tuck it and run, or he can throw it, so keeping him in that pocket, so being disciplined in our rush lanes and making sure we've got a plan for it. He doesn't get out and contain or through the B gap or the A gap is gonna be the best, it's gonna be a huge piece.

On the challenges NW provides defensively

Yeah, they've got some good players. You know, their pass rusher number four is a really good player. He comes off the edge, he's violent. Linebackers are tough, run downhill, so they're a team that plays really good team defense, tries to keep everything in front of them, so we gotta do a good job attacking their safeties and trying to get the ball over their head when we can and sustain a good running game.

On what the seniors mean to him

Yeah, I think their record over the last five years is 50-8. Pretty special to be a part of that, to be a part of a college career of that magnitude, so they mean the world to me, they mean the world to this program. They've done so much for this program and when they come back, they're always welcome with open arms and love them to death.

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