Ohio State Postgame Presser: Jim Harbaugh
[Upchurch/MGoBlog]
Can you just share what your message to the team was after this tough loss?
“That was for the team, not for public consumption.”
Obviously they’re a big read-option team. What were they doing, and why did you think your defense struggled so much to stop the run today?
“Yeah, they’re very good and they got after us running the football and I think the number one thing was we weren’t tackling well enough.”
Any thoughts on Jake Rudock having to end the regular season on the sidelines?
“Uh, it’s what happened. Went down on his shoulder. I don’t know how serious it is. AC to the left shoulder.”
Could you just talk about some of the improvements throughout the season from when you took over in fall camp to this point now? Obviously this isn’t the result you were looking for, but 9-3 on your first year.
“Well, yeah. We’ve talked about it many times. Very proud of the team: the way they’ve worked, the way they’ve progressed, and we’ll just stay at that. Closed quite a bit of ground. Still more ground to close on, but knowing our team they’ll stay with it.”
You talked about putting steel in your spine from previous losses. Is that what this is more of, especially against a rival like Ohio State?
“Well, we got beat. Didn’t play well enough in the game to win it, but we’re gonna regroup, come back with the same drive and aspirations that we’ve had: win the next game.”
You said earlier in the week that you thought Jabrill was a really good running back, and obviously we saw more of him. Were we going to see more of him used in the second half if the game had been a little bit tighter?
“Uh, yeah, he was in the second half.”
[Hit THE JUMP to see my question go over as successfully as the rest]
Would we have seen more of him in the second half-
“You saw him in the second half.”
MGoQuestion: Especially early in the game, you went with three down linemen. What did you see on film from them that led to that decision?
“Uh…what led to- we didn’t stop the run well enough. I’m not gonna talk about schematics with you. Never do, so not gonna start now.”
Obviously injuries had taken their toll on your defensive line coming in. Did you think that depth was an issue today in your inability to stop the run?
“No, we’re not making any excuses. We didn’t win the game, and we’ll regroup. They played better.”
Your thoughts about the penalty on the attempt to block the punt in the first half.
“I don’t have any thought on it.”
The way Ohio State lost last week, they certainly seemed like they came in hungry, motivated, all that. Was it a level that you guys couldn’t quite reach? Did you see that difference in the way they came out?
“I don’t know about that. They played very well and they deserve credit. They played a very good football game and played much better than we did.”
You mentioned you guys had covered some ground this season and you have some more ground to cover. What areas specifically are you kind of looking at or is it too early to dive into that? What kind of ground is left to cover for this team?
“Yeah, no need to dive into that, as you said. We’ll regroup and come back with the same aspirations: win the next football game.”
Jim, along those line, as Jake [Butt] said about the passing game, you guys have made strides in the passing game. He said in a game like this you’d have to be damn near perfect. Just your thoughts on passing today and throughout the season.
“You talked to him already?”
Yeah. Jake Butt.
“Was that- was there a question there?”
Yeah, just your thoughts on the progress of the passing this season.
“Uh, yeah. It’s been good. Continue to strive to keep improving in all areas.”
It looked like you stopped and said something to Ezekiel Elliott coming off the field. What were your thoughts on his game today?
“He played really good. He’s a heck of a player and congratulated him on a good game.”
14-10 at the half. Did you feel like the game was going in a direction you could win it, or were there signs you were concerned about even in the first half when you were keeping it close?
“Yeah, we felt like we could win it at halftime.”
November 29th, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
The only coaching changes imguessing will be driven by job promotions, e.g. Durkin possibly becoming a head coach somewhere else.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:24 PM ^
even without the view. Interestingly, the players' interviews seemed more reflective and positive, while admitting how badly they felt about the loss, and the enormity of the loss.
November 29th, 2015 at 1:31 PM ^
This is good. I want the Michigan coach to be pissed about getting blown out by Ohio State.
it always bothered me how complacent Rich Rod and Hoke seemed after losses like this. Where was the urgency?
This result sucked, and it is a result that Harbaugh will not let stand. Period.
November 30th, 2015 at 4:25 AM ^
Well from reading 3 and Out, RR was royally fumed after losses.
But then again, he had to deal with bullshit non-football related stuff everyday and the local media trashing him daily.
There were no excuses for Hoke. Had full support and had most of us fooled with before his shitshow ways were at the forefront.
November 29th, 2015 at 5:39 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:14 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 1:26 PM ^
Well to some extent that's about coaching... but these coaches could only work with the players they have, mostly inherited, as very few true frosh played this season (none on D I believe?)
So while the Indiana & osu games looked like they exposed coaching issues, we have to be realistic about the talent on the roster (especially compared to Urbz year 4).
Unfortunately that extends into '16 as well. We'll have some better players, RS or true Frosh though. They'll be better coached another year into the system, but compared to Dantonio yr 10 or Urbz yr 5, both on the road?
It's hard to watch a performance like yesterday's and tell yourself "Patience" - our brains are exploding and our guts are seething. When the bucknuts unfurled the giant "Welcome Home Coach Harbaugh" banner ya just wanted to shove it down their throats...and JH WILL do that, but it can't happen overnight. They have too big a headstart, they're too well coached.
Let's just root for as many msu & osu players to cash in on their NFL aspirations as soon as possible, while ours work and grind.
Being in the Bay Area I've had the opportunity to "enjoy" several years of Harbaugh pressers already. What he gave to the media post-osu (or to Cowturd last August) is pretty representative of all you can expect from him. He'll heap out plenty of praise to players and the coaching staff when things are going well... but when they're not, think Giant Clam!
November 29th, 2015 at 1:37 PM ^
The tackling was a problem, but it was a tackling born of lack of talent more than technique.
Our LB's did not have the talent to consistently pursue Barrett / Elliott in any kind of space. This leads to them grasping at passing arms and legs, and getting tired doing it.
Give credit where it is due. OSU is an elite spread offense and you need elite athletes to contain it. Our LBs can be coached up all day, but they just don't have the speed to chase it.
November 29th, 2015 at 1:50 PM ^
that was a HUGE problem yes, but many times the LB's, especially Bolden, had clear paths to wrap guys up and make the tackle but whiffed big time, it was infuriating.
November 29th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 2:55 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
They saw what I saw -- if they played their base defense it was NOT going to work. We simply did not have the D-line depth or athletes in the middle of the field; Indiana showed that and OSU is Indiana with cheat codes.
Frankly put, I think the coaches saw the result before kickoff -- the only way we win this game is if OSU's coaches derp again like they did against MSU, but that wasn't going to happen in The Game. They were going to get OSU's best, which is still good enough to drop 40+ on ANY defense in the country. They would never, ever say that, but just look at the matchups and the result is pretty clear. All the practice and scheming in the world wasn't going to overcome the difference.
But they had to do SOMEthing. It didn't work, yes, but I'm glad they tried. If they went with their base defense OSU would've tempo-ed the D-line, made fools of the linebackers and would've been up five scores by halftime. Instead they gave OSU something they weren't ready for, and for a half it was a game. OSU figured out what they were doing and unfortunately they didn't have anything left, but I seriously doubt there was anything they could do but hope.
November 29th, 2015 at 8:52 PM ^
Interesting take and I tend to agree. Wonder if they would have made that same decision if our DL depth was still intact.
November 29th, 2015 at 10:16 PM ^
November 30th, 2015 at 9:40 AM ^
But it seemed to me, that these guys took poor angles in trying to tackle, which is generally brought about by not being physically prepared to make tackles by approaching head up and driving through a running back and then wrapping up. It was almost as if guys didn't want to take on Elliot straight ahead and hope they could get him from the side or the ankle. And when you have a guy running downhill at you at full speed, he's a locomotive and difficult to stop one on one. But that's what these guys signed up for. And when you don't make a play, you let the whole team down. But that's why running to the ball and getting many hats on a guy is so important especially in The Game.
November 29th, 2015 at 10:35 PM ^
Couldn't you also argue that the coaching staff knows our weakest link on defense is our linebackers and scheming a game plan that relies on those same linebackers to make play after play is possibly a bad plan?
November 30th, 2015 at 4:26 AM ^
Does Ross get sucked in on the zone read every single time. Zero instincts whatsoever.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:06 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:36 PM ^
Hell, and the reality is we were closer to 10-2 than 8-4 this year given that we were the flukiest college football play possible away from beating MSU (and I don't buy that we were lucky against Minnesota or Indiana. We beat the Hoosiers straight up and Minnesota caught every break the entire game up until the last few seconds).
November 29th, 2015 at 1:14 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 1:43 PM ^
Minny and Indiana exposed us on D. Those were games that we could have easily lost, and it would have been a fair result.
9-3 with a near win against MSU, some exciting pull-it-out wins agianst mid-pack teams, blowouts over lesser teams, and getting steamrolled by OSU is an extremely accurate reflection of our season this year. Extremely accurate.
We got a little ahead of ourselves mid-season, but still, winding up 9-3 is an encouraging place to be given what this team looked like last year.
November 29th, 2015 at 5:01 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 5:41 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 5:46 PM ^
West Michigan is one big sparty party. Ironic that when UM was on top all the sparties complained about UM having so many fans that "didn't even go to that school." Funny they don't seem to mind all the newbie spartoons who are on board their bandwagon now.
November 29th, 2015 at 7:05 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 7:16 PM ^
Sorry for you, but that may be your cross to bear.
MSU may be annoying now, but in the long run, they will return to form. The long-term threat and rival especially in regards to recruiting, national prestige and fan support, etc. will always be Ohio State.
November 29th, 2015 at 1:23 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
is Meyer Lansky. Try to keep up.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^
Even considering yesterday, this year was a substantial upgrade from pre-Harbaugh. The hardest thing to change is attitude and Coach has done that. The only things to do now are recruit better and get back to work. And, not to long in the future we will have the Paul Bunyan back and the buckeyes wondering what hit them.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
Fuck you, Urban.
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:51 PM ^
You could argue that going for the field goal would have been running up the score, since that's a higher percentage play at that distance. Going for it on 4th down gives the other team a chance to stop it.
November 29th, 2015 at 7:22 PM ^
Let's not give Ohio State any more credit than they deserve. They went for it on 4th down because it was not about scoring more points; they ran it because they wanted to re-emphasize their physical dominance over Michigan.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
I also never got the sense that OSU was running it up. They kept the starters in but to me, it seemed like they took their foot off the gas toward the end. They could have scored 50 if they really wanted. Would you have preferred OSU kick the field goal on that 4th down to extend the margin of victory? They ran a pretty conservative run instead.
November 29th, 2015 at 1:38 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^
Harbaugh keeps it simple after a disappointing loss. Mostly just reiterates a few facts and restates the obvious. You just know that he will use this to make the team, and each player on the team, better.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
I know this is eating up Harbaugh on the inside. He's going to do whatever it takes to recruit some damn monsters to stomp on OSU now.
November 29th, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
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November 29th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
November 29th, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
Of course he's pissed as hell. Still maintained composure and class. I admire him even more. And for what a tough guy he is, how gracious to simply state, that OSU played better and deserved to win. Truth sucks sometimes but better to face the truth.
He will continue to improve the program. If we played Utah yesterday we'd have won.
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