On what he's seen from his team in three weeks

I think, you know, first of all, on offense, you saw the growth in the run game. You saw what it could look like, what it needs to look like, what it needs to feel like. And I think we've grown a lot there, and I think there's a lot to build on for this next game, which I feel really good about. In the passing game, there's some playmakers out there that we feel really good about, but obviously the biggest thing is we gotta take care of the football. Turnovers can't happen, regardless of the run game or the pass game. So ready to, you know, just continue to be better today and attack that process. But defensively, I feel like we're definitely making up, making up the ground and getting to where we need to be. Felt like this pass game, we played three and a half quarters of elite football. I think we held them to like 136 yards in 55 plays when the ones and twos were in there, which was really good. The only score they had was on a field goal off of an interception, and they held them a sudden change. So defensively, we're playing where we need to, and, you know, gotta get the threes and fours that were in there to play at that same standard, but felt good about where those guys were at. But we gotta finish on defense, and then from a special team standpoint, a good place. So as a team, we gotta continue to get better, but feel like we're in a good place right now.

On why he named Alex Orji the starter

All right, you know, first thing, Davis, you know, won the job because he took care of the football in training camp and did it at a high level. So, and then made the plays in the past game that he needed to, and was a general for the offense. So, big thing was for us, you know, to see that, you know, go to games and carry that over to games. So protecting the football is the number one thing. You gotta do that. So for us, felt like we had to make that change, you know, made it in the game. Alex came in, had a touchdown drive, but took care of the football. And that's the biggest thing for us, is the quarterback position. And obviously you gotta make plays and do those things, but that was the main deciding factor for us to do that.

On his counter that Alex Orji isn't a passer

I guess we'll just have to watch it and see. Feel like he's, he can be as good as the passers as we'd need him to be to go win games. And we're never a team that's just gonna sit back there and drop back and throw the ball 60 times in a game. That's not who we are, not who Michigan is. But he can do the things enough for us to create explosive plays in the pass game.

On what Orji adds to a gameplan

I think just as a quarterback, you just always have to have an eye on him for as a runner, because he can run. It's not really what he always wants to do, but he has the athletic ability to do it. So for us, he gives you that dimension of that. There always has to be a quarterback player. And then just, you know, helps you in the run game because of it. But think ready to, you know, we've got this offense built for him. You know, we always had a plan for him. So ready to put it on display.

On whether Davis Warren is QB2

Yeah, right now, you know, we'll see as practice goes and see how that plays out.

On Jack Tuttle and Colston Loveland's status

Yeah, Jack's been throwing in practice, just having some minor setbacks. So, you know, I just go with the doctors, what the doctors say on that one. And then, you know, Colston's continued to be evaluated. It was less serious than we thought. So feel positive about that. But, you know, we'll see as the week progresses.

On the offensive line against Arkansas State

Yeah, I felt like it carried, you know, the things we emphasized in the run game we got. And it felt like those guys played faster. They came off the ball. There was less thinking. They played violent. And there was a lot of finishing on film. So that was great to see. Still have to, you know, be more consistent in protection and communication, those things, because those things obviously can get you beat. So for us, that's gonna be a point of emphasis for us, but as coaches to make sure we have these guys in the right position.

On whether the plan is to rotate centers

Yeah, we'll probably do that. We'll just see how this week goes. You know, Dom actually graded out a little bit better than Crip, but I thought Crip played well when he was in there and provided some spark to that group. So let those guys continue to battle out, but obviously, you know, see who plays the best.

On who he expects to step up if Loveland can't play

Yeah, first, Marlin Klein had three catches, I think, for 43 yards in the game. So he's always a guy we thought very highly of and, you know, showed that he can make the plays needed to help you win the passing game. I think the other guy is Hogan Hansen, who we saw catch his first touchdown. Yeah, he's a true freshman, but he doesn't really act like one. He's kind of got a little bit of Colston when he was a true freshman where he's like the moment's not too big, and he's just ready to go, whatever you ask him. So excited to see him progress, and he just kept getting better from camp to now, and just ready for him to keep rolling.

On the development of the receiver position

I thought they had their best week of practice last week, and I thought they prepared mentally better than they ever had, and I think that group has a lot of talent, a lot of ability, but again, it's all about how you do it on game day. The one, we tried to get a ball to Amarion Walker earlier, and we busted on the protection, else he's wide open. So there's things like that we've got to do as a whole team to make sure we can feature all those guys, but I thought those guys prepared well, and they played well. Amarion in his few rolls did, and then Fred played really well. Thought Semaj did what he could do, and we'll continue to help him and get him the ball, but CJ Charleston's a guy who's going in there and throwing his head in there in the run game and doing some really good things, so it's a really good group, and we're just gonna continue to progress.

On Peyton O'Leary

Yeah, him too. He's been doing it. He's done an outstanding job.

On how he's pushing the running backs to be more productive

Yeah, I think for us, for Kalel, it's like just keep doing what you're doing. Running hard, running physical, making those big plays, but doing it within confines of the offense, and Donovan's just so close to, there's gonna be one that's gonna pop, but he's running so much harder and running physical. It's taking a couple guys to get him down. Ben Hall had limited opportunities, but what he did, he did really well. So find ways to get those guys on the field even more and keep featuring them.

On whether it's an offense that runs to set up the pass

Yeah, I think for us, the number one thing is like for us to be balanced, we gotta possess it. So taking care of the football is number one. The number two thing is penalties, pre-snap penalties, especially. If we can do that, that'll help us sustain drives. And I think the run game has got to set up the pass game, the play action, all those things to make us successful.

On what he's seeing from the defense

Yeah, I think overall, guys are just doing their job and they're doing it with fanatical effort. This week, we're really gonna talk about fanatical detail. Everything you do, do as fast as you can, as hard as you can, but with extreme detail. Your job, whatever the call is, play it to your details as the best you could in your God-given ability. And if we do that, we'll be really good because we've got the talent. And for us, it's just doing your job. And I think right now, you're seeing guys really buy into that even more and more and more and just playing their fits, playing their fits in the run, being where they need to be in pass coverage and starting to tackle better. I think there was, with that first two groups, there wasn't really a lot of missed tackles. Guys were making plays, so it's good to see it now and then they're playing fast and having fun.

On Will Johnson's play

I've seen him playing really well. The second game, they didn't even throw his way. Last game, they did it a little bit, but not as much, not very much. I wouldn't either because of how good he is, but the guy, man, he works so hard. He works so hard in the offseason and he works so hard now mentally and physically to be great and he wants to push everybody around him to be great. He's not satisfied with any of the preseason hype or rankings. He just wants to win, so it's been awesome to watch him.

On the secondary adjusting

Yeah, I think they've done a good job overall. Always room to get better. I think Jyaire's taken a step, especially this game in coverage, did a much better job in coverage of staying stuck on guys. I think he missed one tackle in space and then Zeke was right there to cover it up. It's all about angles as you go in tackling, but those guys have done a good job. I think Makari's really been a leader back there. Done a really good job keeping everybody together and consistent and it's been cool to watch them just start to merge even more together.

On whether there's concerns on defense to slow starts

I think you always wanna start faster. The biggest thing in this last drive is, last game, I mean, it was seven plays and we got them in fourth and, or third and 20, but we get a penalty. You know, we get the late hit and Q's just gotta pull off because if we don't get that, they're gonna have to punt it. So those things are the things that we've got to eliminate and from a discipline standpoint, from a focus on the details, that'll help us eliminate these long drives in the beginning.

On differentiating between playing aggressive and playing with lack of discipline when it comes to penalties

Yeah, the pre-snap penalties, those are the ones you just, you can't, there's no excuse for them. The alignment issues, the offsides, the false starts, like those things you can never have. Even the penalties, the unsportsmanlikes, like the roughing the passer, those can get hairy depending on the timing. Like you hit a quarterback and he's throwing it and then they call roughing the passer. It's like, well, was it? It's just how you bring the passer down. But you can't hit the guy out of bounds. But holdings, that's gonna happen. Pass interference at times can happen because those things will take place. So the penalties that you can't have, we make sure we attack those and nip them in the bud, but there's obviously stuff we call cost of doing business that you gotta, that just happened in football. And you don't wanna take the aggressive nature out of the kids.

On USC's offense

Offensively explosive, starts with the quarterback, does a great job distributing the ball, very, very smart, knows where to go with it on different pressures, on different looks. And he has a lot of weapons around him. The O-line's big. You know, they got a younger tackle on the left side, but they're a big O-line. And Lincoln really wants to run the ball. He's not a throw-first guy people think he is because it's a spread offense, but he really wants to run it. So we've gotta stop the run again and do a really good job there.

On USC's defense

Yeah, I think defensively, they do a really good job of coverage, with their eyes, with their eye discipline. But really, I think number six up front, Lucas, he's a game wrecker. He's a guy that can wreck a game, so we've gotta keep eyes on him and know where he's at at all times.

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