Frank Clark, Jake Ryan, Dennis Norfleet

Could you guys talk about the receivers as a group beyond Devin Funchess and what you guys feel like you can give to this team?

Dennis Norfleet: “We’ve become one. Everybody expects everything from one another. We do things as a group so when one makes a play we all make a play. That’s how coach Heck[linski]’s got us and that’s how we’re going to remain throughout the year.”

Dennis, what’s your perception on how people perceive you? Is it as a big play guy, someone who can score at a moment’s notice or are you much more than an explosive player? What else can you bring to the table other than that lightning quickness?

DN: “My role on the team…I know that I’m a guy that can bring spark and that makes everybody happy so I’m just being the teammate that can get everybody going [and] to bring fire. That’s what I do. So if I can continue on doing that to get everybody to be happy and to let them know that the game can go our way at any time then that’s what I can do.”

Frank or Jake, you guys seemed to find more success stopping the run as opposed to getting to the pass. Is that just something that Golson might have been doing differently or that you guys were more prepared for with the run?

Jake Ryan: “That’s just something that we’ve got to work on, the pass game, more. Creating havoc for the quarterback. The run game we played pretty well but we’ve also got to focus on the pass game. Getting more blitzes in and getting more guys to the quarterback is really going to create a different atmosphere for him and create havoc for him.”

[More after THE JUMP]

Frank, you’ve had Willie Henry come up behind you in high school and now you’ve watched him develop behind you here. Talk about what he’s doing for you now that he’s sort of getting into the flow of the defense.

Frank Clark: “Willie’s just being the player that we need him to be. On the defensive line, especially the interior, you need those tough big guys in there to clog up that run and him along with the rest of the guys that’s inside are a big cause of why we’ve been having success against the run.”

Do you have a favorite story about him? A guy you’ve spent all these years with.

FC: “We’ve got a lot of stories. Being in high school together, I mean, I believe this is the seventh year we’ve played together on a team but no specific story. Willie’s come a long way. He’s poised to have a good career here at Michigan.”

Frank, Jake talked about getting to the quarterback being a priority. How hard is that when the ball’s getting out of there so quickly and how do you guys feel like you’ve done in those first two games?

FC: “Like he said, the ball’s getting out of there quickly. The first two games we played teams that for sure know we have some good pass rushers on our side of the ball and their gameplan is to get the ball out. Three step drops, quick routes, things of that nature. All we can do is continue to do what we do. Just try our best to get there but like our coach always says, when you continue to keep going and keep going the quarterback’s going eventually to have to hold it. We’ve got good DBs on the back end who’s going to do a great job of holding their receivers and all we can do is just continue to do what we’ve been doing.”

Frank, we didn’t talk to you after the game. What was your initial reaction as the game was going on and then when it was over how did you deal with Saturday night?

FC: “I mean, I dealt with it just like I deal with any kind of loss. I’m a competitor and as a competitor no one likes losing but then again it is a game and everyone loses. Notre Dame is a great team and I give them all the credit. The tradition of the rivalry, it’s a great rivalry but they came prepared to play. We came prepare to play as well but I believe we beat ourselves on a lot of things we didn’t do.”

Given that Notre Dame’s a great team, is it the coaches’ job to grab this team by the collar and say, ‘That performance was not acceptable’ or are there guys on the team, leaders, that get involved with that as well?

FC: “I think it’s a joint effort. Our coaches do a good job of giving us the gameplan and letting us know what it’s going to be. Like you said, I believe it’s those guys on the team, the leaders, the Jake Ryan’s, the Dennis Norfleet’s, those guys whose job it is to keep the team going and they keep everyone [Ed: going?], especially when you’re in someone else’s environment. And that’s what you have to do day in and day out.

Coach Hoke said that the older guys on the team addressed the younger guys and kind of worked out any mental thing that happened. How did you guys address it to make sure that everyone’s on the same page going forward?

FC: “Really just letting the guys know that we still have a season left. It isn’t the final game of the season and we still have ten games to show everyone what Michigan is capable of doing. One thing we always preach is finishing, and that’s one thing that we have to do for the rest of the season.”

JR: “You’ve just got to instill in those guys that our goal is still out there and that’s the Big Ten championship. That’s what we’ve got to work towards every single day.”

Jake, what’s the key to forcing turnovers? I know that was one of the high things on the list that coach Mattison said this defense hasn’t done so far.

JR: “We haven’t in these past two games and that’s huge for us. It’s huge for our offense because we need to get the ball back in their hands and score. The key to creating turnovers is creating turnovers. You’ve got to get to the ball and you’ve got to have a knack for the ball and where it’s at and what’s going to happen with it so we’ve got to improve on that and take those necessary steps forward in order to create turnovers.”

Frank, there were times where you guys were getting to Golson pretty quickly which led to quick throws, quick strikes. Is there anything positive that you can take away from the pressure that you were able to apply to him?

FC: “Yes. At the end of the day you can get there but if you don’t make the play it doesn’t mean anything. The pressure that we got on Golson, we did a great job as far as that but we didn’t do enough and at the end of the day, like I said, if you don’t get there and don’t make the play it doesn’t mean absolutely anything. But you can take a couple of good things from it, but at the end of the day you’ve got to get him down when you get there.”

Dennis, how excited were you to see Jake Butt returning from the injury and getting some time Saturday?

DN: “I was really excited. Jake’s been working real hard since we’ve been training and everything and just to see him back, just to see him happy again [and] part of the family…it’s really a great thing to have one of our brothers back on the team to be back on the road with us again.”

Frank, how has Jabrill handled not being able to play here? Has this been tough on him, do you think? Frustrating at all do you think that he couldn’t go there Saturday?

FC: “Yeah, I believe so. I believe it’d be frustrating on anyone. But Jabrill’s a competitor like everyone else on this team is. Jabrill’s going to be fine. I believe he handled it well. He showed some leadership qualities and just trying to encourage the guys while he was on the sideline, keep guys’ heads in the game when things weren’t going our way or whatever. I believe Jabrill’s going to be just fine.”

Jake, you were in exactly the same position as Jake Butt a year ago. Have you said anything to him about that adjustment to coming back and getting on the field? Have you guys talked at all?

JR: “Yeah, absolutely. I just give him the little pointers that I was given last year. One thing that I was- it was the Penn State game last year and just not to jump up and celebrate and twist in the air like everyone does that these days. He did it in practice one day and I was just like, ‘You don’t want to go through this again so keep your head where it’s at and you don’t need to celebrate and jump up in the air.’ No one ever wants to go through that twice. But he’s done a great job, he’s worked hard and I’m glad to see him back.”

How are you guys all feeling physically after a game like that? Frank, I saw when you left the stadium your hand was all wrapped up. Are you guys all healthy?

JR: “Yeah. Everyone’s good.”

FC: “I believe that everyone’s good. You’ll have a couple of wounds when you play in a game like that. My hand being wrapped up is no big deal. It’s nothing serious. I’m going to play next week. I’m going to play the week after. Like he said, everyone’s good. We’re all in great shape, all in great health.”