[Fuller/Upchurch/MGoBlog]

Jake Butt and Amara Darboh

Jake, I know you guys put a lot into this and you were down only four at the half. What happened, and what’s the feeling after that one?

“Uh, we just didn’t execute. I think we only got the ball once or twice in the third quarter. In a game like this you’ve got to be able to run the ball and play defense, and we weren’t running the ball very well. We weren’t getting stops on defense. We just didn’t execute. In terms of how it feels, it hurts.”

9-3 is obviously a big turnaround season, but losing two of those to your rivals- does that sour the season at all for you?

AD: “Yeah. That’s obviously not something that we wanted to do. We went into both of those games planning to win, but in both of those games we didn’t execute until the end and the end result shows it.”

The improvements in the passing game that we’ve seen throughout the year- can you talk about those a little bit or detail those. Obviously maybe not today, but through the season the marked improvement in passing.

JB: “Again, it’s come a long way and each week you’re going to get more comfortable with each other and with the quarterbacks, the quarterbacks are going to get more comfortable with you running your routes, the timing, the ball placement, and all that. I mean, we had a good gameplan. We thought we’d be able to execute. We had some good plays downfield today, but it wasn’t enough. You know, you gotta get back in the film and see what you did well, see what you did wrong, make some corrections, and continue to do the things that are working.”

What was the hang-up with the passing game today?

“I don’t know. I actually didn’t think- we weren’t too bad in the passing game today. We left some plays out there that needed to be made, but we weren’t too bad. But again, in a game like this you need to be damn near perfect and we weren’t.”

What was the message from your head coach after the game?

AD: “Just focus on the season. We still have one more game, and no matter what bowl game we go to and what team we play we’re going to learn from this game and go out ready to play.”

[After THE JUMP: Wormley and Chesson]

Jake, you said you kind of had to play perfect. When they led 21-10, did you feel the only way you had a chance was if you went score for score with them?

“It was never really a ‘we only have a chance if…’ situation. We knew we needed to score; we needed touchdowns, not field goals. We can’t get all the way down that deep in their territory and kick a field goal. That’s- in a game like this, that’s not going to be good enough. We trusted our defense. We trusted our gameplan, but in the end we just really didn’t get it done.”

What was your reaction to seeing Jake Rudock end his regular season on the sideline?

AD: “I personally felt sorry for him. Jake’s a great leader, a tough guy, and I don’t know what the whole situation is but for him not to finish the game…I thought he played a great game. Put the ball where we wanted and I know I personally didn’t execute all the time. But I know he’s a tough guy and will bounce back.”

JB: “He bounces up. He takes so many shots each week, and each time he takes so many shots and keeps bouncing back up. He took a big shot from a great big player there, so it’s tough to see your leader go down like that.”

Jake, you talked about having to be almost perfect against these guys. Was this a better Ohio State team than you had seen on film or a more motivated and in-step Ohio State team than you’d seen this year?

“No. I think going into this game we knew they were good. There was no hiding that. We knew they were a great team. They’re highly ranked in the country for a reason. They’re national champions last year for a reason. They’re well coached, and coming off a loss like they did last week we knew they were going to be hungry, but yeah, there was no mystery.”

[Fuller]

Chris Wormley

Seemed like they had a lot of success running the ball especially around the edges. What happened?

“We couldn’t make tackles, especially on #15. He rushed for I’m guessing probably close to 300 yards, and a guy like him and a back like him you can’t allow just one person to make the tackle. You’ve got to gang tackle and run to the ball and get to the ball.”

How disappointing is that considering after the Indiana game you guys obviously went back to the drawing board and thought you came up with something? Did you expect to have more success against them today?

“I think so, especially with coach Durkin and the schemes that he draws up for us each and every week. It’s disappointing as a defensive lineman when you give up close to 400 yards rushing. It’s unacceptable.”

This time last year you guys were walking away and your season was over, but now you have a bowl game ahead of you. I know it’s kind of hard to think of today, but talk about putting it into perspective that way.

“Yeah. I mean, this loss is obviously tough. You never want to lose to Ohio State and especially the way that we did, but it’s a bowl game. We haven’t been to one in two years. We’re super excited for that. It’s a chance for us to get better. We’re going to get an extra 15 practices, and we’re just going to roll with it.”

It looked like most of you guys on the D-line didn’t get a chance to come off the field hardly ever if at all. Especially with the pace of their running, how wearing was that on the defensive line and how much of a factor was that?

“Uh, I think there was a couple times where I was kind of gassed, especially when they were driving the ball for those 10- or 15-play drives that they had. But for the most part, it’s the Ohio State-Michigan game. You’re going to be out there and do whatever the coach says and you’re going to lay it all on the line.”

JT Barrett was able to break a couple plays on you; he scored a couple touchdowns. Could you just talk about the challenge of facing JT?

“Yeah, when you have a dual-threat quarterback like JT Barrett it adds that extra element when they run the zone read, when they run the option. It’s not just looking at the running back as a threat to run the ball. You’re looking at a quarterback that can run the ball too, and that’s what they did today.”

Were you guys concerned? Given his reputation and his athleticism, were you guys concerned that maybe he might be able to hurt you today?

“I don’t think it was a concern. I think that’s something you have to look at and gameplan for, but not a concern.”

Obviously you addressed how emotional this game is. Can you take us into the moments after when Coach speaks to you? What’s the general message he’s giving you?

“I mean, there’s always- the bowl game is obviously our biggest focus now, those extra 15 practices to get everyone that much better and prepare for a team we face in the bowl game that’ll be pretty good. Obviously we’re disappointed with the loss, but I think there’s a lot to look forward too as I said with the bowl game and hopefully we’ll be in position in the bowl game to win.”

Were there any adjustments that you guys as a defense tried to make maybe in the second half, and how do you think they went?

“Yeah, I think at halftime there’s always adjustments that you have to make. Obviously stop the run. We held them in their passing game pretty effectively, but as far as the run, you go into halftime and you say what can we do better and you try and do that. We kind of lacked that today.”

On the running game, was their scheme giving you guys problems or was it just the ability of Barrett and Elliott and the offensive line?

“We knew what they were going to run. We knew they were going to run Power, we knew they were going to run zone read, so we were prepared for that. Obviously there were some times where we weren’t as prepared as we thought or didn’t make the play where we should have made the play, but those two guys are two good players and we were prepared and gameplanned for them all week.”

Coach Harbaugh said of the season in general you guys closed some ground you had to make up but there’s still a good chunk to go. How much of a stride has this team made this year and how much further is there to go?

“I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance this year except for us. We were in it until the end to play for a Big Ten championship, and that’s going to be the goal every year. So I think looking back on it there’s some good things that we did and obviously some bad things that we did, and we’ve just got to improve on the bad things and improve on the things we did well.”

For the most part you guys were highly ranked as a defense except those two games especially. What happened in Indiana and Ohio State that was different? Was it just their personnel or was it you guys?

“Obviously the tempo against Indiana and even today against Ohio State, they ran a little tempo on us. I think that’s one of our weaknesses is just handling tempo. We saw it against Utah, we saw it against Indiana, and we saw it today, and those were probably our three toughest games to play, so we’ve got to get better at that.”

What was Jim’s message to you at halftime, and considering what you said the strides your team has made, how big of a gap is there right now between Michigan and Ohio State in your opinion?

“I don’t think there’s that big of a gap. There were some plays that we should have made and there’s plays that they made. We make a few plays here and there and they don’t make those plays that they make and it might be a different story.”

And Jim’s message to you at the half?

“Just go out and play. It was 14-10. We were right there in it. We hadn’t played as good as we could on defense. We knew we could have played better, and then obviously on offense too we could have played better. If we would have improved on both of those things it could have been a different story.”

[Fuller]

Jehu Chesson

When you guys went down 21-10, did you just kind of figure this was a game you’d have to score every time that they did to stay in it?

“Going into the game we figured we’d have to score every time we got the ball, so the mentality of how we score and when score didn’t really change. But yeah, that was the mentality going into the game. Nothing really wavered.”

You’re only down 14-10 at the half, and then Jake Butt says you don’t see the ball a whole lot in the third quarter. Is that kind of disheartening to kind of have to rally from that?

“Rally from what?”

Not having possession enough.

“Oh, in terms of the offense not having the ball. Yeah, I mean, it’s frustrating when you don’t have the opportunity to as much as you would have, but we did have opportunities out there. We left a lot of plays on the field that needed to be made, but at the same time it’s a team sport. There’s nothing really we can do about not having the ball, but when we did have the ball we made a lot of mistakes ourselves. It goes both ways.”

With a 9-3 season obviously you guys made some impressive strides, but with losses to your two rivals, how much more of a gap is there for this team to be competing with Michigan State and Ohio State?

“In my opinion, I believe we compete with them year in and year out. It’s just what it is. It’s part of a rivalry. Today the scoreboard was very sad in terms of what it showed, but I don’t think the gap’s insurmountable. It just goes back to very little details, momentum, how they pick up momentum- they being Ohio State or Michigan State, and we just gotta…we’re down right now, but we can always come back. The sun’s going to rise tomorrow morning, so the gap’s not as big as people think it is.”

Along those lines of improvement with a 9-3 season, but the passing offense as well looked like it took a couple ticks up. Can you tell us, was there a certain game, was there a certain week or practice where you thought the passing offense was going to be a weapon this season?

“Well, we kind of figured at the beginning of the season. Just how we train and how rigorous our practice schedules are and how punishing coach Harbaugh makes it, to get the ball out there to make every catch, to make every play, when the ball is in the air it’s ours. That’s just a mentality. There was really no point in the season where our mentality changed to say, ‘You know what, we can throw the ball.’ That’s been our mentality the whole season.

“What you guys see on Saturdays- it just so happens if you catch the ball everybody pats you on the back, but if you don’t make plays you question our passing offense. It’s really not the fact that we change how we think or how we play week in and week out. It’s more just the mentality that coach Harbaugh’s kind of instilled in us throughout the season, winter conditioning. That’s just how it chalks out to be during the season.”

You guys are confident throughout the whole year in your ability to throw the ball?

“Yeah, we really are. There’s no game that we go into passive or scared to throw the ball. I mean, we just do as we’re told. It’s a team sport. Coach draws up the plays and we’re 100% in, no matter what.”

A reminder of how physically violent the game is when you see Jake go down with that hit, at least from our eyes. What was it like on the field to see your quarterback down like that?

“I know Jake’s a tough kid. Really a token to his character and his physique. I know that when I see him go down like that, I wouldn’t say I’m worried about him, but I’m definitely concerned but I know he’s going to bounce back. Injuries are part of this game. It’s really hard to go through a football season without having any big hit or big collision, so there’s only so much you can control and as a receiver what I can control is making sure that I get out of my breaks fast enough that he has a place to put the ball so that doesn’t happen.

“The blame is everywhere. Everybody has their fingerprints on it, so you can’t really single out one person because it’s not fair to do that. We’re a team. We’ll remain a team and when one guy takes a hit like that it affects the whole team. I mean, he’s the one feeling it physically, but we all feel it mentally and emotionally. We just need to rally around him, make sure he’s healthy because, you know, God first, and safety’s very close behind.”

It looked like right from the start you guys almost emptied the playbook or had a lot of different plays with Pepper in there. Did you guys feel good about that gameplan going in and did you think you were going to hit them with some things they hadn’t seen, and what did they do to stop it?

“Yeah, we felt good about our gameplan. We felt confident. I mean, we wouldn’t be a good Michigan team if before a game we were scared of our gameplan, so I don’t think we were in any way doubtful of the gameplan. We were very confident in what the coaches had installed. We just- a lot of it was failure to execute. A lot of it was they gained momentum on big plays. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot of times; penalties, penalties killed us a lot but you can’t really win that many ball games if you’re hurting yourself like that. There was nothing wrong with the gameplan. Coaches chalked up a stupendous gameplan for us. It’s just a matter of players going out to play. Players play games, coaches coach games, so…”

Your stats went way up this year in every single stat. I know you don’t want to boast about yourself, but talk to us about what enabled you to make the improvements you made this year.

“Yeah, I mean, my stats really don’t matter. We didn’t win, so stats mean nothing. That’s just my opinion, but it’s just a mentality everybody has to have on the team: do your part to contribute to a win, whatever that part is.

“If you’re Reon Dawson, I ask him to look at the corners, see how they’re playing me, give me info that I wouldn’t be able to see. That’s just as important as me going out there and converting on third down. So, once you really put that into perspective and everybody truly feels like they belong then good things happen, but the sad thing is I get too much credit at times. It’s really just a matter of doing your job. You either do your job or you don’t do your job, and that’s not just football, that’s everywhere.”

Did the lack or the running game- it wasn’t always consistent- kind of expedite the process for you guys to get more aerial and start throwing it? Was that part of it?

“I don’t know. I really don’t call the shots in terms of why we run or why we pass, but yeah. Just, if the run game is slacking then the passing game comes up. That’s just part of the game. If they want to put eight in the box we’re going to try to throw it. If they keep seven and just rush four then we feel pretty confident we can run the ball. Coach would be better suited for that question because he calls the shots.”