Sugar Bowl

Everything this defense and Gibbons have gone through...a big stop and a big FG...amazing.

These are all from Kyle Meinke's (A2.com) Twitter feed.

• Hoke was surprisingly revealing today. He typically clamps down on info as game day approaches, esp. on players gaining/losing starting jobs:
  • Will Heininger "probably" won't play in the Sugar Bowl.
  • Will Hagerup has held off Matt Wile, will start at punter.
  • Thomas Gordon will start at free safety. Troy Woolfolk also is expected to see time.
  • Should a long field goal be attempted, freshman Matt Wile, not Brendan Gibbons, would be the guy.
  • J.T. Floyd joined Denard Robinson in submitting paperwork to the NFL draft advisory board. Hoke expects him to be back.
• Denard used to get too hyped before games, a problem he's mostly solved by listening to slower music like R&B during pregames.
• "Spent my New Year's Eve watching Arrested Development in my hotel room." -- Denard Robinson, showing off his superior taste in TV. [Maize and Bluth]

Here's the transcript of today's Greg Mattison press conference. Four instances of "tremendous".

He had this to say about Will Heininger's health:

Q. We've seen Will go around on crutches, how much has he been able to practice? And do you have a limit of how much time he can miss before you may rule him out?

COACH MATTISON: That's really up to Paul. That's up to our medical staff. Over the years in coaching I've had guys that have missed an entire Bowl practice and all of a sudden they were cleared. And you now have another hand, you now have another guy that can play.

You can't worry about that as a coach. If you're a coach and all of a sudden somebody goes down and you start worrying about that, you're not going to do a great job. And it truly is, at our place, with Brady, and our staff, next guy. Next guy. These are our players. This is Michigan defense. This is how you play. You're expected to know what to do.

You're supposed to execute what we call and I'm very confident that they'll do that.

And this to say about his confidence in Will Campbell:

Q. Craig talked about how Will Campbell has basically his own personal coaching staff. How has he responded to that kind of attention in practice and the position he might be thrust into next week?

COACH MATTISON: Will has responded well all year. There aren't just three starting defensive linemen. You can't make it doing it that way. You've got to always look at it as if there's five or six starting linemen.

And you're going to be playing [??] whenever you put a defensive linemen in a game in a crucial part of a game he's a starter. The times are passed when one defensive lineman plays the whole game if you get ahead you mop up you put a guy in. Doesn't happen that way. And especially the way we do it, because we've rotated, we've tried from day one, even when guys weren't ready, we rotated guys in in crucial times.

So when all of a sudden it's time for you to say: Okay, instead of you coming in the second quarter, you're going to start the first quarter, that's about where it's at with Will. And I have utmost confidence. And I'm happy for him.

I'm excited for him, because he has an opportunity now to show what he can do, and that's what this game is going to give him.

[Update: GBW now has video of the presser.]

For both your information if you're already down there, and in hopes that you're safe and can check in with those who might be worried. 

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/orleans/Accident-closes-I-10-in-New-Orleans-136366738.html

NEW ORLEANS - I-10 West and East are currently closed at the Michoud Exit due to a multi-car fatal accident.

There were 40 cars involved in the pileup that killed two people.

A 54-year-old man from Springfield, La. and a man from Slidell, age unknown, were killed in the accident, according to the NOPD.

Tow truck drivers who arrived at the I-10 pileup scene shortly after it happened said visibility was extremely poor because of thick fog.

Minor to critical injuries caused 22 people to go to the hospital and 37 others received minor injuries that they refused treatment for.

A firefighter was injured during a rescue operations and suffered minor lacerations.

Westbound traffic is currently being detoured to Highway 11, while a better alternative may be Chef Menteur / Highway 90.

Eastbound traffic should exit at Chef Menteur / Highway 90.

Officials say that it could be several hours before the area is cleared and advise commuters to add extra time for their drive.

The cause is still under investigation, according to NOPD.

A review of Virginia Tech's specialists is the last in the series of Hokies position group previews penned by my son Ryan for Maize Pages.

Previously: offensive backfield, receiving corps, offensive line, defensive front seven and defensive secondary.

While you're there, check out my list of Wolverines on Twitter. Now with current, former and recruited Michigan hockey players.

7 days until Brandin and the Wolverine defense shut down the Hokies and get UM its first BCS win since 2000!