On why Kalel Mullings has been more involved in the gameplan of late

I think it's just the trust and the growth and the amount of touches guys can get throughout the game. He was playing later in those games early on and I think it was just one of those moments where I was like he's ready to go. You just knew he was ready and it didn't matter at what point in the game, it didn't matter what situation. I told Blake earlier, hey, Kalel is probably going to get the short-yardage, take some short-yardage hits off you. That was the plan going into the Nebraska game. Everyone knew the plan. I think he was 5-for-5, it was either a first down or a touchdown with those five carries. Kind of got him out there playing in that fourth quarter, we were a little bit ahead there. Didn't want to get dinged. I think just guys continue to get better and guys continue to show you they get better in practice to have confidence in them to get it done. The last thing you don't want—when it's third and one, you want to convert, right? I know Blake's going to get that done and you know Kalel Mullings is going to get that done. Ben Hall is right there as well, too. He's going to get those things done as well. I think it was just the growth of him and being in my room for almost a full year that we've really just had true confidence in him.

On Donovan Edwards' production

I'm not really concerned at all. I think the people saw his two 80-yard runs against Ohio State, his 70-yard run (against Purdue), his 50-yard run against TCU. Those are hard to do in college football, the NFL. Those are long runs. Penn State he had another long one. You could say the same thing for Blake, he had a couple of long ones last year. Those things are hard. They're hard. I think the consistency of what he's doing is OK. He's great in the pass game still. I think the biggest thing with Donovan, I think he said this aloud, he was trying to make the big play every time. As a running back, you can't try to make the big play every time. If it's blocked for four yards, you have to get those and whatever happens after that happens. I think he's putting the pressure on himself to make the big play all the time. Especially Blake, he's averaging less than 15 carries a game. Same with Donovan, he's probably under 10 right now. Just because the way we're beating teams so they're not getting as many touches. You want to get the big play and sometimes you take a risk and that's when you would see a bad run by Donovan. The last couple of weeks he's been really good. I'm proud of him, he's putting his foot in the ground, he's getting vertical, he's doing what he needs to do. He's been great in pass pro. Really just happy where he is mentally. A guy like that, how positive he is right now. Yeah, he's not having the year he wants to have right now but we're halfway through the season. I'm not worried at all. I think he's doing a great job. The good thing is we have multiple guys that can play. The biggest thing is that I want to get to the end of the year healthy. It's not about stats, not about yards. Guys know what you can do. If you can do it on a consistent basis then everyone is going to know who you are.

On what the Michigan State game means to him

(Laughs) It's a rivalry game. It's huge. People don't understand how big this game is in this state. It's the biggest game. I have neighbors who are Michigan State fans. My son has teammates on his soccer team who are Michigan State fans. They're still friends, we're all friends. It's huge. You want to win this one, you have to win this one. We're going to try our best to do it.

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