[Fisher/MGoBlog]

Chris Wormley, James Ross, and Taco Charlton

Harbaugh was just talking about how you guys played so well, especially on the defensive line. Was it a personal challenge after last week? Did he say something to you? Did you talk about it internally about wanting to prove something this week?

TC: “Personally, our defensive line always feels like we have something to prove when we go that way every week with that mindset. We know a lot of the game depends on how we play, and we felt like the past couple weeks we’ve been slacking, so it was something that we internally knew we had to pick up and something coach Mattison preaches to us every day.”

Could you guys tell that Hackenberg was pretty beat up at the end? Seems like you guys got to him quite a bit.

CW: “Yeah, you could tell he was, towards the end of the fourth quarter, he was flinching at the end of his throws, kind of trying to duck out of the way. That was the goal all along was to get to the quarterback and apply pressure to him.”

James, if you could talk about the toughness this team has shown on the road. It’s tough to come through the whole Big Ten season and not lose on the road.

“This team is tremendously tough. We rely on each other and we’re a band of brothers when we go on the road, and we know if you give us an inch like you’ve seen in the Minnesota game we’re going to put the game on the defense’s shoulders. We’re going to do everything we can do to hold it out, and that’s everything we can do and I trust these boys to a T and they prove it every time we get on the field.”

If Taco and Chris could weigh in also.

CW: “What was the question again?”

Why you guys have been so successful on the road, not losing a conference road game.

CW: “I think it’s a mindset, especially when you’re not at home and you don’t have the crowd cheering you on every play. It’s just a mindset, and like Biggs said, we’re a tough team. We have that mentality each and every week, especially when we go on the road.”

TC: “The biggest thing I can attest to is what Biggs said also: we’re a band of brothers. We stick together. We go to a place like this, especially Penn State, it’s a hostile environment but we know together if we play like a team it doesn’t matter what the environment is. Every football field’s the same and that’s all that counts. Nothing changes about that.”

[Hit THE JUMP for more from Wormley, Ross, and Charlton]

You guys have lost games here; you’ve lost close games on the road before. Why is this team different and why have you guys been able to win these grind-out games? What’s the difference?

JR: “I just think coach Harbaugh does a great job of letting us know how to play the game of football and how to come out and come out with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind, just all the things he does. He’d run through a brick wall for us no matter what and we’d do the same for him, and that’s just how we’ve been taking it. We just go out on the road and give it all we’ve got and that’s all we have.”

At what point did you decided ‘I will run through a wall for him’? At what point did that click?

JR: “The first game. The first game, [or] probably the first meeting when I saw how much energy he had and just having a coach like that, it means so much. And just knowing your coach would do all that for you, you give it all for him.”

In red zone situations with holding them to field goals, how is that happening and what’s the response when you do that?

CW: “Like I said, it’s just a mindset. You go out there and your back’s against the wall and you know that you have to hold them to three points or less, and that was our goal all along with this game. We knew it was going to be a grind-out game, and I think we accomplished that.”

Can you root for Ohio State today, and have you let yourselves think ahead to what it’ll be like next week?

CW: “I think so. I can say yes and I can say no, but we’re going to play for a Big Ten championship. This is what we wanted all along. We’re real close to that goal, and next week against Ohio State is going to be that big test for us, and if we win that game we’re going to be competing for a championship in Indianapolis.”

MGoSeth-stion: Which one of you guys is the best BUCK?

/Wormley points to Ross

JR: “Best BUCK? I feel like everybody brings a set of skills to the table. We’re all different, but at the same time we bring different type of things to the game. I feel like we cause a disadvantage for offenses because they don’t know which one of us is going to be in there, like Taco or Royce Jenkins-Stone. You can get all of us, so it doesn’t matter.”

MGoFollowUp: Just to continue, who’s been the best defensive line coach you’ve had? You’ve had some great ones come through here.

TC: “Previously, coach Mattison really took over the defensive line and he was that way since my freshman year, so we take a [inaudible] to him. He coaches hard, he coaches well. He’s a guy who’s coached in the NFL; he’s coached in the next league. He knows what he’s talking about. We know that, and we have trust in him and we play hard for him every play, every down.”

Chris, you guys had a tough couple losses. What about coach Harbaugh is pushing you through and keeping you going and keeping you intense throughout the adversity of these games?

“Yeah, there’s always that focus. You have to be resilient through any loss or any win. You’ve got to push through and just…push through everything. When you lose a close game, when you win a big game, a close game, just be resilient through everything and look forward to the next week and fix the mistakes. That’s probably the biggest thing is fix those mistakes and look forward to getting another opportunity to play.”

What was the locker room like after the game, and do you feel like guys already have a sense of anticipation for next weekend?

CW: “I think so. There’s definitely- we were all excited, especially when you get a big win on the road against Penn State. We know what we’re playing for; we’re playing for something bigger than just this game, and win you get this win it’s just the next step closer to what we wanted to accomplish. It’s right there in front of us, and the energy and enthusiasm in that locker room afterwards was pretty special and pretty fun to be a part of.”

What happened in the locker room?

CW: “Just excitement. You’re playing with 70 other guys on the road and the coaches, especially coach Harbaugh, bring that enthusiasm each day, so you can just imagine what that locker room was like. We battled with each other and for each other each and every week and it’s special to get a win, especially on the road.”

What does it mean to you to have another shot at Ohio State and to have Michigan back in a position where you can play for a Big Ten division title?

TC: “It’s just special going against Ohio State every year because it’s the team I grew up around. Growing up in Columbus it was the team I watched every Saturday, so getting my shot to finally go against them again is something I’ve been waiting on since last year, and this team’s come so long and I’m just happy to be with these guys because these guys are my brothers. So to go against them in this game with 70 or 80 guys that’s my brothers is special is something I don’t really have a word for.”

Did you hear the fans start chanting ‘Beat Ohio,’ and has Harbaugh already addressed it? Did he talk about it in the locker room?

TC: “I mean, every game is play that game that week. It doesn’t matter what happens next week because if we don’t get through this week it doesn’t really matter, so we’ve been approaching it as the next game is the most important game. Penn State was the most important game, but next week Ohio State will be the most important game that we’ll play.”

So nothing was said in the locker room after this win?

CW: “I think we all know what it is and what we’re playing for and the type of game it is. We’ve just got to win the next game.”

Taco, last week you guys gave up 300 on the ground, you had to play without Ryan, people thought you were tired up front on the defensive line; do you guys take that as a challenge or personal or anything like that? For any of you guys, I guess.

CW: “Absolutely. The front seven, we gave up a lot of big plays last week and that was the main focus this week was to shut down their run game. They have a good running back and we shut him down. I think they had 70 yards total rushing; take out that big play at the first drive and it’s 15 rushing yards total. It’s something that we made a priority this week.”

Coach Harbaugh talked about how right before the long kick return that Jourdan [Lewis] had toward the end of the game he said in the huddle, I don’t know if you were in the huddle, that he was going to go break Penn State’s back. When you’re going through the game in any game but especially this one, is there a point where you can smell blood in the water and go for that knockout punch?

CW: “Who said it? Coach?”

Coach Harbaugh said Jourdan said it in the huddle.

CW: “Oh, Jourdan. I think there’s that breaking point that every team has and when you have a big play, especially in the fourth quarter, and Hackenberg flinching at the end because he doesn’t want to get hit again, it’s those plays that add up and pile up that can really make a team break and make your will go away. Especially for a defense, we thrive off of that. And you definitely could notice it on the sidelines going against the offensive line and going against the offense each play, you could feel it and we thrive off of it.”