Michigan Wolverines Football: Don Brown On OSU Game – ‘Man Up, Move On’
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ATLANTA — Michigan’s defense gave up 55 points at Ohio State, shredded by Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins. U-M defensive coordinator Don Brown said the focus in the offseason would be to see what can be corrected, but right now, they’re looking at Florida and the Peach Bowl.
The Gator’s are ranked No. 10 nationally and seem much more motivated than the team U-M played in the Citrus Bowl three years ago.
“You’ve got to move on. Coach [Jim Harbaugh] said it the best,” Brown said. “You really had an outstanding year and a terrible week, so … the key is not to let it linger. Then it can impact performance moving forward against a really good Florida team, so you’ve got to move on.”
It’s not as though they’re shrugging their shoulders and saying ‘oh well,’ he added.
“When things kind of go your way for a long stretch of time, and you can look at it … obviously, that game’s not looked upon lightly,” Brown aid. “It’s not like, ‘oh, it’s okay. Let’s move on.’ I think everybody feels it, but we’ve worked our way to where I was really happy with our week of practice. The first couple days I was kind of curious to see how we would respond when we got here. Our response has been really good.
“Outside of that [game], what we prepared for is what we kind of got, and I don’t agree in total with some of the comments [people made] … there were some day one mistakes in that game that I’m still puzzled by. Head scratchers. But you’ve to be accountable for it, and the buck stops with me. I take full responsibility for it, and then move on, prepare, get ready for the next football game.”
Ohio State receiver Paris Campbell didn’t do anything in last year’s game, but he was one who elevated his game and had his best outing of the year against the Wolverines.
The turning point of the game, though, came in the third quarter, including a blocked punt for touchdown and two turnovers deep in Michigan territory that gave OSU short fields.
"If you remember, there was a sequence of events that occurred in that third quarter that were difficult,” Brown said. “Those are types of things that when you’re in the midst of a 10 game win streak, none of those things happen. It’s a tough deal. Man up; move on.
“The thing that’s difficult is when things go your way for such a long period of time, and let’s face it … we had 10 weeks of things that kind of went our way. Maybe I shouldn't say 10, because we were tested at Northwestern. But at the same time, I don’t live in the world of negativity. That’s up to you. I’ve got to move a defensive group forward that, despite it all, in my opinion had a hell of a year.
“It was disappointing the one-game scenario. I’m not discounting that at all. But you’ve got to move forward.”
Haskins was a handful, but it was the “easy ones” that bothered Brown the most, including a bad angle on a long jet sweep for touchdown and a blown coverage for a long touchdown pass.
"Those are the things that leave a bad taste in your mouth. Correct and move on,” he said.
He’ll address it more in the offseason, he added.
“Yeah, starting next week,” he said. “I’ve got a game to play. I can’t be worried about Ohio State right now. We’ve got to worry about Florida, or we’re not going to win.
“You’ve got to take care of what’s in front of you. Then we’ll shift gears, for sure.”
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