Jim Harbaugh joined his Inside Michigan Football radio show tonight with host Jon Jansen. He looked back at the 28-21 loss to Penn State and looked ahead to this weekend's match up with Notre Dame.
Harbaugh On Penn State Game
Harbaugh said that, despite the loss, he liked a lot of the play he saw from his team last Saturday.
"I watched a lot of great effort and character," Harbaugh said of his team's performance. "I think our team has both, has a lot of fight to them. There was a lot of positive, a lot of good.
"We left a lot of things out there, and there was some heroic play, too. Shea Patterson, Kwity Paye — both of those guys leading the way. [Jordan] Glasgow again, Cam McGrone, Ambry Thomas, the offensive line, tight end play — Nick Eubanks made some big plays for us — so did Ronnie Bell, Nico Collins, and the backs Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins. Aidan Hutchinson continues to play great football.
U-M went down 21-0 in the second quarter, but was able to make a comeback, giving itself a chance to tie the game at 28 in the Wolverines offense's final drive, before they fell short on a fourth-down and goal try from the three yard line.
"There was heroic play there was a lot of effort and our guys battled back," Harbaugh said.
"We dug a hole early and battled back and put ourselves in position to dig ourselves out of it."
Harbaugh continued on about Patterson, who completed 24 of his 41 attempts for 276 yards, one interception and one rushing TD.
"I think he’s been consistently good," Harbaugh said. "He’s had a lot of good games this year.
"This one, he was playing in the moment. He did a lot of really good things — accurate, bought time, improvised, ran the offense in a really loud environment when it’s tough to communicate.
"I would put him in the category of excellent."
The offensive line was also something that Harbaugh harped on as a positive from last week.
"Pass protection was very good," he said. "They did hit us on one edge pressure and then the line adjusted. Jon Runyan made the call and then Hassan Haskins went for 10 or 12 the next time they saw that and made the adjustment."
Ronnie Bell has taken some criticism after not coming down with the fourth-down catch at the end of the game, but Harbaugh supported Bell's play, and said the team wouldn't have been in that spot without him.
"I’d take a lot more Ronnie bells on this team," Harbaugh said. "As many of those as we can get.
"He’s a very tough minded guy, tough physical player, and it means a lot to him. The film shows that it’s never just one play that it comes down to. We had some other opportunities as well. We just weren’t able to convert and get the game tied up.
"We’re not in that position without Ronnie and some of the plays that he made. "
The defense clamped down in the second half against PSU, which was a big part of the comeback. Harbaugh pointed out that the big plays were the ones that hurt U-M the most.
"I think our defense has been playing consistently good all year long," Harbaugh said. "They've been good on third down. It's been a bright spot.
"It probably came down to five or six big plays. They got most of their yards on big plays."
The defensive line is one group that continues to impress the head coach.
"They’ve got a lot of talent and they play violent," Harbaugh said. "They play all-out.
"Kwity Paye had another player of the game type of game. Aidan Hutchinson continues to get better every week. Carlo Kemp — one thousand percent love the mindset and the way he plays the game."
Harbaugh On Notre Dame
Looking ahead to Notre Dame this weekend, Harbaugh had positive things to say about Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish.
"They’re always really sound," Harbaugh said of Kelly's teams. "Very aggressive, physical, their defense is long and athletic.
"They run and hit, their safeties are really involved, linebackers are downhill and athletic. Defensive line [has] length, wingspan, height, along with athleticism and physicality."
Fighting Irish senior quarterback Ian Book junior running back Tony Jones are players that garner Harbaugh's attention.
"[Book has] the ability to be athletic and run the football," Harbaugh said. "He gets the ball out quick, he's got a nice release and he's got a lot of really good targets to throw to.
"[Jones is] a really good back. [They have] a really good offensive line, really good unit up front and receivers that are involved with blocking on the perimeter, as well.
"Tony Jones is a very good, physical back."
Notes
Harbaugh said several young players are coming along and are closing to making an impact on the defensive line.
"Taylor Upshaw is improving fast," Harbaugh said. Mazi Smith is on the verge of playing. Chris Hinton is right in there, so there’s a lot of good play going on in that defensive line.
Harbaugh was asked about junior linebacker Josh Ross, who has been out with an injury since the Wisconsin game.
"We'll see this week," he said. "Hopefully he'll get a chance to get back on the field and practice this week."
When asked how Ross could be utilized when he returns, with the emergence of McGrone and Glasgow, Harbaugh wouldn't give much of an answer, other than that he will certainly be utilized.
"We can utilize him," Harbaugh said. "There’s some privileged information that you don’t just volunteer out there but he’s a very good player and we want to utilize him."
Shea Patterson joined the show later on, and gave his thoughts on the upcoming match up with Notre Dame.
"Gotta get that sour taste out of our mouths from last year," the quarterback said. "Having a chance to win on that last drive and didn't. I think we're very determined."
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