[Upchurch/MGoBlog]

News bullets and other items:

• Grant Newsome is done for the year. Harbaugh wasn’t sure whether it was a career-threatening injury; it’s too early to tell.
• Bushell-Beatty at LT is probably happening, but Harbaugh said Cole and Braden could move there.
• If Cole moves back to LT, Kugler will be the center.
• Karan Higdon’s lack of carries was not due to injury
• Quinn Nordin’s been healing and might be a part of the kicking competition this week; it’s too early to tell as they haven’t practiced yet this week

Seemed like Kyle [Kalis] really brought some intensity Saturday. Can you talk about how he played?

“Yeah, Kyle always brings intensity. Kyle Kalis?”

Yeah.

“Yeah, always. Practice, games, weight room, meetings.”

Was that one of the better games you’ve seen him play this year?

“Yeah. I thought he played extremely well. He’s been doing that consistently good his entire career here at Michigan. Strong. He’s strong. Kalis Strong.”

How important is it to win games differently? You’ve won with offense, you’ve won with special teams, Saturday you win defensively. How important is that in the coaches’ room?

“I don’t know exactly how much or how important. There’s an importance to winning, importance in being successful, winning on gameday. To your specific question, how important, I don’t have the answer to that.”

Did you get specific news on Grant Newsome and whether he’s going to be done for the year or not?

“Yeah. Yeah, he had a serious knee injury and he’ll be out for the year. It’ll be a tough couple weeks for him. It’s a reminder of just how tough the game of football is, just how serious injuries can be in the game of football.

“What I do know is, as far as character, human being character, football character, nobody’s ever come through here, this football team or this university, that I know of with more of it than Grant Newsome. Leon and Kim Newsome, they should write a book on raising kids. Grant is the finest, and just praying for him right now. It’s not a good feeling today at all. But just being with him at the hospital, everybody’s he’s come in contact with, nurses and doctors, it’s ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ It’s amazing. He is an amazing, amazing young man.

“And he’s strong as they come, and I know that all things are possible with Grant Newsome. But keep him in your prayers, as he is in ours. It’s going to be—got some things to work through right now, but he’s handling it like a champ. I know he’s got pain, but he’s…watching him up there, he’s as tough as a two-dollar steak. It’s unbelievable.”

[Hit THE JUMP like Wisconsin’s linebackers hit their run-throughs]

Bushell-Beatty, it looked like he held his own coming in in the middle of the game in that situation. Do you expect he’ll be the guy at left tackle again this week?

“We’ll see. There’s different options and we’ll assess as the week goes on what the best are, but definitely Juwann is a very—probably Plan A. Also, Ben Braden could go to tackle, Mason Cole could go to tackle, so we’ll see what the different options are this week.”

Your offensive line gave up four sacks against Wisconsin and they had given up five previously. What did Wisconsin do to force that, and what corrections need to be made in preparation for Rutgers?

“More stout. They got us on the edge a few times with speed and strength, speed and power, and they were effective in run-throughs. So, shoring up the edge and linebacker run-throughs, we can do a better job.”

If Cole made the move away from center, who’s your next best, and who graded out the best on the offensive line Saturday?

“Kugler would be the center if we moved Mason to tackle. As far as going out to who graded out the best, haven’t determined that yet.”

With Grant, is this a possibly career-threatening thing?

“Don’t know. It’s as serious as a knee injury can be right now. Again, it’s a reminder how injury can be serious in football. Its too early to tell that, but Grant is…he’s special. If there’s anybody that can come back, it’ll be Grant. He’s just strong. Strong-willed, strong physically. So, we’ll see. It’s in his hands and the doctors’ hands. It’s amazing what they’re doing in the U of M Health System. They’re real miracle workers.”

And then the red zone issues on Saturday: was there a theme there? It seemed like something different each time on the second down plays that stopped the drives.

“Yeah. We had…yeah, drives were stopped.”

You’ve probably seen a lot of Jabrill in practice doing different things, but from what you’ve seen on the field so far in the wildcat, what were your thoughts on what he’s been able to do so far?

“He’s a natural.”

Saturday you mentioned about the train that Jay found it and brought it to your attention. Was that kind of a one-time thing? I know that you won’t get into everything about it, but does Jay have any more influence on offense? Is he doing a little bit more with helping with plays or was that just a one-time thing?

“It’s—like I said the other day, it could have a future, that particular formation.”

But as far as Jay being involved with offensive play calling, was that just a one-time thing or will you continue to—

“All of our coaches are involved. And will continue to be involved. Were involved, are involved, will continue to be involved.”

Heading to Rutgers, you’ve got a bunch of New Jersey guys in key spots on the roster. Is this a week they look forward to going home? Also, wanted to ask you about Chris Partridge’s impact in bringing guys like Jabrill and Rashan and the New Jersey group to Michigan.

“Speaking from self-experience, going back and playing in your hometown or playing nearby or in your home state, it’s always been a big thrill. Chris has done an outstanding job. Being from New Jersey, Jedd Fisch being from New Jersey also, it’s been good having natives of New Jersey that really connect as well. So, that’s been positive.”

Does that remain an important state for you guys in recruiting?

“Yes.”

Following up on that, why is New Jersey an important state? Why has it become such a recruiting hotbed?

“There’s good football being played there. Talent and great effort and good coaching.”

Special teams and the kicking game: you said you were going to re-open the kicking competition. How have the kickers responded to that so far when they found out?

“Today’s the first day.”

How do you think they’re going to handle it?

“We will see. That’s why we have a competition.”

We’ve seen a couple times Wilton change his progression. I think you said the touchdown for Darboh the other day was designed for Butt, and the Asiasi one, too, was designed for Chesson. What is it about Wilton that enables him to change on his feet like that?

“Well, it’s not changing the progression. He’s not changing. That’s the point of a progression is there’s a one, two, three and then you go through that progression. The intent might be the first read, but doesn’t mean he’s changing the progression by going to the second or third read. Just means he’s progressing through the read.”

How impressed have you been with his ability to change on his feet, to go from his first to his second to his third read?

“I think it’s beyond his years. It’s been a real positive. Talked about it the other day, his decision-making. In going through the film, he’s making good decisions, the right decisions.”

With Ryan Glasgow in the middle, didn’t look like he got blocked a lot on Saturday. Has he been as good as you’ve seen inside from a nose tackle, a guy who just seems like he plays every snap for you guys?

“Yeah, he’s been outstanding. I mean, arguably our best defensive lineman last year, and he’s making a run for that again this year. High effort, talented. We know him as one of our top defensive linemen.”

With Higdon, he didn’t get any carries. Was that just a call from the coaches or was he hurt?

“Nah, he’s fine health-wise.”

Two-part question here. First question: I know that you say every week that you guys prepare like it’s a championship game, but first game on the road, going to Rutgers…is there anything in your mind that you’re looking at that you need to see as far as any glaring issues on your end? Anything that you need to see you guys do at Rutgers? Like a checklist type of thing.

“Yeah, prepare, prepare during the week. We’re going through that right now, getting prepared for the football game. We’ll treat it as a big game. We will treat it as a championship game.”

And then on Saturday Ryan [Glasgow] mentioned how the defensive line played pretty well, and that he looked to his left, he looked to his right, and there were guys who have been here four or five years. Just the advantage of that, having that depth at defensive line and that you continuously see it every week.

“Yeah, I agree. It’s been outstanding. It’s been a stalwart part of our football team for I know since I’ve been here and before that. And if a guy goes in, comes back into the lineup—I’m thinking of Mo Hurst, Chris Wormley, Ryan Glasgow, Taco Charlton, go right down the list. They play extremely well; one guy’s out and another guy steps up. It’s impressive. I think Greg Mattison does a tremendous job, and credit to the youngsters, the players themselves for their effort and their talent. It’s been the spine of our football team, a strength.”

Has this been the most depth and experience on the defensive line for a team that you’ve coached?
”Since I’ve been at Michigan, yes.”

[/laughs]

I know that you don’t like to compare, but overall throughout your career--

“I hate to compare.”

You mentioned Quinn [Nordin] has been working through some stuff. At this point, halfway through the season, do you think he’ll redshirt or do you think he’ll get into the mix of that competition?

“We’ll see. We’ll see where he’s at today and this week.”

Is he going to be a part of the competition going on this week?

“We’ll find out. See where—how he’s feeling today. He’s been making progress the last couple weeks. It’s been better each week. See if he’s able to today. I don’t have a crystal ball.”

Bryan Mone played a handful of snaps. How did he feel after the game, and do you anticipate him doing more and more going forward?

“Yes, we anticipate that. He got in there. He got into practice [and] he was better each day. He got into practice last Wednesday and got reps under his belt before the ballgame. Seemed like he felt good after the game. But a lot of guys say that. ‘How’s it feel?’ ‘Feels good.’ You get the same answer you get from people sometimes--well, define good—but you really don’t know ‘til Monday, ‘til Tuesday, ‘til a couple days after the game to be really accurate.”