brady hoke philosopher king

News bullets and other items:

• Ondre Pipkins was dealing with “something” and should be back soon
• Willie Henry was dressed but didn’t play; he’s injured
• Hoke said any of the dressed QBs could have played, but read between the lines re: Morris and being injured
• Devin Gardner had a boot on his left foot after the game but said he’d be ready to go against Michigan State
• We talk about injuries a lot for not talking about injuries
• Penn State broke away from their tendencies in the first half. Hoke praised Mattison and the defensive staff for adjusting before the second half.
• Hoke again praised Matt Wile’s kicking and Devin Gardner’s leadership

Opening remarks:

“It was- obviously it’s always good to win. We’ve had some tough times and tough weeks but the resiliency of our football team, the resiliency how they go about every day in practice and the hard work that they put in paid off. It wasn’t pretty at time but I don’t know if anything’s pretty all the time and what they did, though, is they played together, they stuck together.

“We had some guys who were banged up obviously, and that’s just part of football. If you’re not banged up then you’re really not playing, but we’ve got guys who are tough. We’ve got guys who understand what it is to play as a team and play for each other and play for Michigan, and I’m excited about for them as much as anything [that] they stuck together.

“Also, the environment, the crowd; there’s no place better in this country when you have a game like this than Michigan Stadium. I can tell you our kids, they feel it. They feel it when those people are there cheering for them, and those students that were there, the former players coming back and supporting those kids; you don’t get that at a lot of institutions or maybe any institutions like you do at Michigan. Very excited for our kids. We’re going to enjoy it and then we’ll get back to work next week on Tuesday and Wednesday.”

Could you talk about the play of the defense in the second half, and then the winning plays at the end there?

“You know, I think a couple things: Penn State had a week off and as most teams do, you have a week off [and] you start looking at tendencies. You start looking at things that maybe have patterns to [them]. The first half they broke some tendencies that they had, so I think Greg and the staff defensively did a great job at half time. I think our kids had a will, and they willed themselves to keep going and it was pressure on the quarterback with a four man, three man rush that really worked out pretty well and maximum coverage. And part of that is that he has to hold the ball a little longer, and we got off the field on third downs which in the first half we really didn’t as much.”

We all saw Devin [Gardner] pacing the sidelines and grimacing and looking like he wasn’t going to get back in. Talk about him coming back in the game and what he showed you and what he gave you.

“Well, Devin’s leadership has been outstanding, and he played a game a year ago with a broken toe for half the game so you know he’s a got a toughness to him. He is turning in, through his maturation process and everything else, into a tremendous leader. He was cheering the defense on when they were out there and he just wants to compete and play and the trainers said, ‘Yeah, he can go.’”

[More after THE JUMP]

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News bullets and other items

• We’re not going to talk about injuries.
• Kalis and Glasgow are taking snaps at right guard, and Glasgow is also taking snaps at center.
• Kenny Allen and Matt Wile are competing at kicker.
• The average number of explosive plays [Ed: defined by Doug Nussmeier as a twelve-yard run or sixteen-yard pass] per game should be nine to ten. Michigan had five against Notre Dame.

Opening remarks:

"As a team I think everybody really came back to work Tuesday. We had a really good practice. Very high tempo. I think the leadership throughout the team is a big part of that, how competitive and hard-working everybody is. We are correcting things that we need to do better. Talked a lot about fundamentals and techniques. Talked a lot about and worked on a lot of things that you have to do when you talk about ball security and all those things to be successful, and the guys went at it and we had a very competitive, very good practice, like I said. We’re looking forward to Saturday. Number one, we get to play at home. We get to play at the greatest stadium in this country in front of our fans and that’s something we always look forward to. We have the next three weeks to do that. The energy and support is something that we really embrace."

Brady, you said you made corrections. Were they small corrections or were they glaring things?
"Yeah, there's a lot of things that were small but in the big picture those small things can add up. We thought pad level-wise we played pretty well but we've got to be more demanding on finishing some things from both sides of the ball."

As far as the offensive line, do you anticipate making any changes? Do you see a need for it?
"I think right now, I think we like the group we have. I think you asked the other day, [and] it's still highly competitive. Kyle's playing right guard and so is Graham [Ed: MGoD'ohThereGoesMyQuestion]. Graham's taking some snaps at center so the rest of it's been pretty much how it is but it's been really competitive."

Is it important at this point to keep those guys together and let them grow even if they are making mistakes?
"Well, they're not making many mistakes. That's number one. When you look at the tape, those guys up front did a pretty good job. So to answer your question, yeah, to have them together would be awesome. Now, you still got to have some contingencies if somebody goes down, somebody gets hurt. Mags [Ed: Erik Magnuson, but I’m guessing you knew that] is playing a little bit of left tackle at times so all those things are still part of it."

[After THE JUMP: Miami (NTM) scouting report, countering three-step drops, and Hoke’s opinions on the criticism of players]