Q. Guys, I'm sorry about the loss. I cannot imagine how disappointed you must be feeling right now. I am wondering if you can speak to the level of play that TCU brought, whether they showed you that an up-start program belongs on the field with a blue-blood program such as yourselves.

J.J. McCARTHY: All credit to them. They won the game in the 60 minutes that were played. They're a good football team. No matter what it is, they got the win. Fought our hearts out. There's a lot of things that we could have done better. Can't wait to watch the tape. But we'll be back, and I promise that.

Q. To fall behind by 18 like you guys did, that third quarter was crazy from all of our seats up in the press box. What was it like to be a part of that back and forth battle throughout that second half?

DONOVAN EDWARDS: We had our heads up high the whole game. Regardless, we're a four-quarter team. We'll be back.

MIKE SAINRISTIL: Yeah, I would just say in a football game like the one we just played in, there's no time to hang your head and get frustrated in what's going on. You got to have the next-play mentality. No matter what the situation was, we just kept fighting offensively, defensively, and special teams. That's really what goes into back-and-forth games like that. Just giving your all every play.

Q. Donovan, I saw you and J.J. [McCarthy] out there, just like last year. It was really hard to put into words. Can you share with us what was going through your mind as you guys were standing up there watching that happen?

DONOVAN EDWARDS: It sucks that we lost the game. Our whole season preparation has been to win a national championship, and this is the second year that we have lost in the 14th game of the season. So we're just like, "We will be back." Same thing we said last year.

Q. I know it's got to be devastating right now. How much more of a gut punch is this loss when there are many things you guys did to essentially kind of beat yourselves early on in this game?

DONOVAN EDWARDS: It ain't nothing to it. Just back to the drawing board, you know? It's like we got a good amount of the same people that were here last year and this year. So the new guys that are here this year, they understand what it takes. The freshmen that were here, Will Johnston, Colston Loveland, et cetera, et cetera, they understand what it takes and the preparation that we have to be able to be in positions like this. So we'll be back.

MIKE SAINRISTIL: I would just simply say it's time to -- we're going to learn from this one. Once we get back to the drawing board, it's just time to rebuild, refocus. There's nothing we can do about it now, but learn from the mistakes and do the best we can this offseason to put ourselves in the best situation for the beginning of next year.

Q. How much did TCU's offensive game plan resemble what you were expecting out of them today?

MIKE SAINRISTIL: It was everything we prepared for. There were no surprises. There was nothing -- they didn't throw no curve balls at us. We knew the game plan well. Just a couple mistakes here and there; a couple big plays that we gave up. We didn't stop the run game the way we wanted to. To be the defense we are, giving up 51 points isn't up to our standard. I think that's just the summary of the game. We didn't play at our level.

Q. What was [Jim] Harbaugh's message at halftime to get the offensive spark like it did in the third quarter?

DONOVAN EDWARDS: Like I said, we're a four-quarter team, regardless of the score. It was 21-6 before we headed to the halftime. Jake Moody made a legendary GOAT kick. That's why he was the GOAT of Michigan at field goal kicker. We just had to bring our energy up. That was it. That's what we addressed on the field. Just had to bring it up. We didn't quit, as you can see.

Q. Can both of you assess J.J. [McCarthy's] performance today?

MIKE SAINRISTIL: He fought. He played his ass off. He did what he could to help this team out. That's who he is. He's going to come back and learn from this one, same way he did at the end of last year. Just come back and do what it is he does. He's special.

Q. I know it's a little hard right now, but the last two years, the motivation that you guys now have going into next year off of this, tell us a little bit about what you guys have accomplished to this point, if you can? And tell us about what it means to, if you can, get to this level for the second straight year in a row.

MIKE SAINRISTIL: I think we know what all went into this season. But the drive that we have, we just are not satisfied with what we did out there today. We get to the point where the accomplishments and all the good -- yeah, we love it, we're proud of it. But we're just -- I know I'm ready. I know these guys are all ready to get back and get to that grind.

Q. What did you guys see on the Roman Wilson overturn touchdown?

DONOVAN EDWARDS: I don't know. Just thought he got in. Tried to punch it in after that.

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