ANN ARBOR, Mich. — UConn head coach Jim Mora walked to the visiting postgame press conference room, shortly after the Huskies were on the receiving end of a 59-0 loss to the hands of Michigan on Saturday, and gave the Wolverines one of the strongest praises and complement an opposing head coach could bestow on another program.

It would be easy for any coach after a blowout loss to keep his postgame comments short and sweet, no one would fault Mora for doing so.

Instead, he took the time to measure his words carefully. What he provided was a quote that was high praise for the Wolverines' defense.

"I watched two defenses this year that absolutely jump out at me on film," Mora told reporters after the game. "That's Michigan and Georgia. They are elite defenses as good as I've ever seen in college football. They put the breaks on us today. I think it would be easy to say that Zion (Turner) was overwhelmed. Maybe because of experience but I don't think emotionally overwhelmed."

While praising the Wolverines, he was asked why he felt that the defense was elite. He had spent time watching the College Football Playoff semi-final against Georgia to prepare for the Wolverines defensively.

Mora decided to take it one step further with the belief that the Wolverines could very well compete for the national championship at the end of the season.

"They have 140 players that are big, fast, strong, physical," Mora said. "They're well-coached, they play with violence. They play with energy. They don't miss tackles. They challenge you. They run the ball well, they pass the ball well, their quarterback runs the ball well. They've got speed all over the field. I don't know if you saw it in the pregame warm-up, I looked down the field in pregame warmup and it looked like an Army down there. They had so many players and they're all great players.

"That's why I think—I don't think. They are a contender for the national championship right now. It's not in dispute, in my opinion."