press conference transcripts

[Patrick Barron]

Josh Metellus

Josh, can you talk about their rushing attack and how tough it was to stop?

“They did what they did well all season running the ball. They did what they’ve been doing the past couple seasons running the ball. They came in with the mindset that they were going to try to run the ball on us and we knew we had to stop it. We tried to limit it as much as possible but we just couldn’t get it done on the defensive side.”

Why was that? Why did you have so much trouble with them?

“They’re really good at what they do. We were doing what we had to do. Some plays we had guys make mistakes. That’s every football game. People make mistakes, gaps get open, and they would just capitalize on all the little mistakes we made.”

Where do you go from here, Josh, and what do you say to the guys after a loss like this?

“It’s early. It’s week three—third game of the season. We’ve got a lot more football left. As we all know, one game doesn’t define a season in college football. Only place you can go is up from here. We’ve got a lot of things to look forward to. I feel like we played great in the fourth quarter on both sides of the ball so we’ve got a lot to push us into next week.”

Josh, how do you describe the mindset at halftime? Were you guys angry [or] surprised? How would you describe it?

“It’s just like any type of adversity in a football game. You get hit in the mouth, it’s how you respond, how you go back out there. It’s 60 minutes of football. At halftime you’ve only played 30, so we were—at halftime—ready to go back out there and try to fight for the last 30 minutes to get it done.”

When you guys are in there and the game’s over and some of the younger fellas, what did you say to some of your teammates?

“Just everybody keep their head up. Like I said earlier, it’s a long season. We ain’t got nothing to get down about. We played a good team. They played one of their best games probably in the last couple years. We didn’t play our best game.

“So, we’ve got a lot to look forward to. We’ve still got a great team. We’ve all got to trust in each other. We all got each other’s back when somebody falls, so we’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Back to Jonathan [Taylor], you guys did a decent job last year of holding him. What was the difference this year compared to last year?

“The scheme. They came in with a different type of scheme than they did last year. He did a great job of seeing the hole. He’s as good as advertised. He’s a great running back and we weren’t doing a good job tackling, getting him down, limiting him to as much yards he could get after contact.”

How were their schemes different, Josh?

“They ran more of a double counter GT-type of scheme trying to get the cutback lanes. If we overflowed to—say they try to run to the left. If we overflow it, they try to get that cutback through the A gap or something like that.”

[After THE JUMP: Nick Eubanks, Jon Runyan Jr., and Aidan Hutchinson]

[Patrick Barron]

[Hi, everybody. I dusted* off the headphones and transcribed this because we figured you'd be pretty interested in reading what was said chronologically with all the proper context a little more than FBO. There's still going to be FBO, but it'll run tomorrow. Also, our own David Nasternak went all the way to Madison to obtain this audio plus I've done this a few hundred times, and it wouldn't be nice to make David go all that way for nothing. You know the feeling.]

[*That's not even true. I used my headphones a couple days ago to transcribe an interview for an in-progress profile, but that doesn't give the first sentence the same zip.]

Jim, Nick [Eubanks] was just in there saying the offense does not have an identity yet and it’s going to take time to get—his word—fluent in this offense. Where do you think this offense is right now? And obviously you didn’t have the ball that much.

“Yeah, I thought that Wisconsin had a great gameplan. Executed it extremely well. Outplayed us offensively and defensively. Things they did really well we were unable to do in terms of establishing a running game, having the play action come off of that. They blocked better, they tackled better, they had a better plan and executed it extremely well today.”

How do you explain that? Both teams were off last week. Having the extra time to prepare, why didn’t Michigan look as prepared?

“Um, yeah, we were outplayed…outprepared and outcoached. The whole thing. I mean…both offensively and defensively, that was thorough. We knew it about their team. They’ve got the ability. They’re good enough and if they play good enough they’re good enough to beat you thoroughly, and that’s what happened today.”

Josh [Metellus] mentioned that they had some different schemes than they did last year running with Taylor. In terms of the line play, what did you see as the difference? You guys weren’t able to be as successful as you wanted on the line.

“Again, I think…I mean, their ability to block and tackle was really good today. And there were holes inside and we shut those holes off inside. He had the ability to bounce them to the outside and controlled the game with the running game—easy to see that—and make the big plays as well. It was impressive.”

Jim, you mentioned establishing the run game. You guys were not able to do that. Was that by necessity or by choice? What happened?

“It wasn’t by choice.”

Is Zach [Charbonnet] hurt?

“No.”

“Limited, but…”

[After THE JUMP: the Mason wrinkle, going downfield, Gattis as a play caller, why McCaffrey started the second half and an injury update]

Chase Winovich walks off the field after the Chik-fil-A Peach Bowl
[Marc-Gregor Campredon]

David Nasternak, whom you undoubtedly know from our hockey coverage or Future Blue Originals or the podcast but will associate more with his sartorial choices by the end of this transcript, was in the scrums after the Peach Bowl and sent back audio. This transcript picks up in the middle of Winovich's presser, but it was 16 minutes of audio in which he honestly and thoughtfully addressed the big issues of the day.

“I mean, you can make excuses for stuff. We had a lot of problems, a lot of things: obviously the players leaving who were impact players even the last time we played Florida, injuries galore—in warmup I strained my calf and my hamstring, I’m dealing with a cold and I got to get surgery on something else, [and] that’s kind of just the way it went for the game; Kwity [Paye] got hurt, Devin Gil got hurt, we had players that were starters that weren’t playing in the game. The excuses, you could go on and on. Like I said, I don’t know if that would have even made a difference. They were just, like I said, a better team than us today. Hats off to them.

“For me personally, it was important that I felt like I came off the field and I didn’t have any regrets. I wanted to play until the last snap I could. And my mom was telling me, signaling, like, ‘Sit on the bench, just come off it, call it quits. They’re up 20.’ And I said, ‘That’s just not me,’ and…I tried.”

You shared a pretty special moment with Shea [Patterson] coming off the field, a nice smile and hugs. What has this year been like with him and what’s that bond like?

“It’s been a real pleasure. You know, the bond that I’ve been able to acquire and share with Shea has been one of the special—it’s unique to come across somebody that’s a lot like you and also in the same position in life and likeminded in the sense that we want to go to the same places: we want to play in the NFL and we’re both almost like high-motor, try-hard, want-to-win-at-all-cost kind of guys. It’s special. I mean, it’s rare. I could go on and on but yeah, it’s been a great experience with Shea and I’m lucky to have him as a friend.”

My last one is what did Coach say to you guys in the locker room after you got off the field?

“Something—I came in a little late so I caught the tail end of it. Just about we’ve got to tighten up. At the end of the day, next year, we’re not going to try to go backwards. We’re going to focus on what we did wrong and improve. What can you say at that point? It’s tough. There’s no words that he could have really said that would have made that any better, so yeah.”

[After THE JUMP: Comments that reach their intended audience, picking who should lead the defense from a pool of everyone on the planet (spoiler: it's Don Brown), and how the OSU game lingered]

Jim Harbaugh catches a pass during Peach Bowl warm-ups

On what went wrong offensively, offseason changes, and where the program is now

Tyree Kinnel thinks Michigan will be even better next season

Tyree Kinnel, Josh Metellus and Ben Bredeson talk to the media.

Jim Harbaugh has coached Michigan too three 10-win seasons in four years

Jim Harbaugh talks to the media after Michigan's selection to the Peach Bowl.

Jim Harbaugh lost his fourth straight edition of The Game on Saturday

Jim Harbaugh talks to the media after Michigan's loss to Ohio State.

Shea Patterson will play in Columbus for the first time on Saturday

Shea Patterson, Rashan Gary and David Long talk to the media.

Jim Harbaugh will try and beat Urban Meyer for the first time this Saturday

Jim Harbaugh talks to the media ahead of the Ohio State game.

Jim Harbaugh spoke to the media after Michigan's win over Indiana

Jim Harbaugh speaks to the media after Michigan's win over Indiana

Don Brown has continued to be one of the otp defensive coordinators in the nation

Don Brown talks to the media

Ed Warinner has turned around Michigan's offensive line

Ed Warinner talks to the media

Shea Patterson and Jim Harbaugh have worked well this season

Shea Patterson, Lawrence Marshall and Jared Wangler talk to the media