[Fuller]

“How ‘bout those Cubs, huh? Is there a real Cub fan in here? I wore No. 14 growin’ up. I mean, Ernie Banks is the greatest player ever! How ‘bout those Cubs! What do you think? What’s up? What can I help you with?”

Talk about Ryan Glasgow as a pass rusher and how he’s stepped up into that role this year.

“Well, I think all the guys up front have tried very hard to use their technique to do what fits them, you know? A lot of people when they talk about pass rush, they see all the fancy type things the NFL uses and all these different type of moves. Well, some people aren’t built for that, and what these guys have embraced is moving the pocket [and] doing what’s best for them and what’s best for the defense.

“And sometimes to be a good pass rusher you have to be selfish, where you don’t really care about rush lanes and things and you kind of just say, ‘Man, I’ve got to get to the quarterback cuz getting to a sack is everything.’ But there aren’t many sacks, so the big thing is you’ve got to stay in your rush lanes and try to get to the quarterback or put stress on the quarterback another way, and I think our kids have all tried to embrace that philosophy.”

These kids developed right along, but are even you surprised at three straight shutouts?

“I don’t look at shutouts. I think what you look at is you try to play the best defense you can and do what you’re supposed to do and everybody be on the same page, and then good things will happen. Sometimes shutouts go hand in hand with special teams, hand in hand with offense and it’s not always just the defense that gets that shutout, it’s the team. There’s been some great things done special teams-wise and offense-wise that’s allowed us to play defense and play what we have to do.

“We just go out every game trying to play as hard as we can with great effort, try to eliminate big plays, and try to make sure that we play with great effort and I think that’s what our kids are trying to do.”

Connor Cook’s been pressured but he’s only been sacked four times. Is he getting rid of the ball quickly? What’s the key to getting to him?

“Yeah, he’s a very good quarterback. He gets rid of the ball quick. He sees who the receiver should be by the coverage very well, and I think that’s a lot of him as a quarterback getting rid of the football.”

[After THE JUMP: Breaking down Glasgow’s sack, talking stunts, and Jake Arrieta: defensive end?]

Does that make a lot of emphasis on them getting their hands up for you?

“Yeah. I mean, I think that’s more- he’s a tall kid. He’s a tall athlete, but anybody you play against when they’re getting the ball out quick you want to get your hands up, so that’s something we’ve talked [about] and worked on.”

Are you running more stunts on the defensive line than you have in a while?

“No, I don’t think so. I think we’re doing a lot of the same things. Again, a lot of that goes hand in hand with the kids are playing good run defense, and when you play good run defense you get a team one-dimensional and that allows you to be able to go into your toolbox and pull out things that you think might help to get more pressure.”

You mentioned doing a lot of the same things but you’re obviously having a lot more success with them. What’s been the biggest difference in turning that around?

“Well, I think the kids are older. This is a group of guys up front that have played a lot of football. They’ve played a lot of football. Some of them played before they should have played, and they’ve worked very, very hard on their technique.

“You know, the other part of it is it’s never just one group. Obviously coaching the defensive line you’re asking me questions about the defensive line, but I think the thing you’re seeing is our secondary is playing so well, our linebackers are doing some really good things and all those things hand in hand help the front be able to play better, and it’s a team deal all the way.”

MGoQuestion: Going back to Ryan Glasgow for a minute, on his sack last weekend he ripped the center down. Can you walk us through that play, and is that a particular move that he’s added this season?

“No, that’s any pass rusher- the one thing he’s done a very good job of, and Will Carr has done a great job of working with those kids as a nose and I think, I mean, you remember Will when he played…

“You know, first thing is exploding with your hands, and he’s done a nice job of that. And once he’s got the guy leaning or going backwards, the first thing an offensive lineman tries to do then is brace forwards and what you want to do is use his momentum to your advantage. So that’s what he did, he snapped him down and got his hips out and now he’s clear of the blocker, and that allowed him to have the success he did.”

You’ve got opponents moving the chains on 18% of third-down situations. Can you talk about that particular play and the success you’ve had?

“Third down is a huge, huge deal for us. You know, it impacts so many parts of the game and really the biggest thing that- when they’re not on the field they have a tough time of scoring. More than that, it all goes back to effort.

“We talk about effort all the time. When you’re three and out you’ve got a lot more time to be able to be on the sidelines and make the adjustments that you have to to be able to not make a mistake or to correct something, and then the biggest thing is you can play with even more effort. You’re not getting drained. You’re able to get your three, make corrections, get back our there and say, ‘Let’s go as hard as we’ve been going. Let’s go harder.’

“You’re not getting worn down, so third downs are huge for us and DJ’s done a great job of giving us a great gameplan to be able to do third downs and to be successful on third downs, and that’s going to be the key to us as we move forward.”

They seem to have been pretty good in third-and-long situations. Have you seen that in film from Michigan State?

“Michigan State’s been pretty good on third down, so that’s going to be a big key for us, obviously.”

As a guy who was around last year and is around this year, why have you guys been able to turn things around so quickly in six games and outperform expectations?

“Again, I think it’s…you know, a lot of these kids are juniors eligibility-wise. They’ve been here for three years. They’ve gotten stronger. They understand football, the game better.

“They’ve got a lot invested; I mean, anytime you’ve played three years you’ve got a lot invested. You want to start reaping some benefits, and these kids have bought in to Michigan so much from day one and now they’re three years older and it’s time. I think that’s one of the things that you’re seeing is they’re veterans now.”

How have you seen Royce [Jenkins-Stone] response to getting a larger role on the defense?

“If you’ve watched Royce throughout the whole year, when he goes in he’s made plays and he’s done some good things, and that’s what you want to have happen when you have a successful team is that the next guy always steps up. And I think Royce understand that okay, it’s his time.

“He went in and played very, very hard. He did some really good things. He played with good technique, but that didn’t surprise me a bit because he practices hard. He’s a team guy. He’s worked very, very hard. This week will be a big test for him again. Every week they’re gonna test him and everybody else, so I was proud of him.”

This staff has little bit more of an NFL complexion to it. Do the rivalry week games feel different versus having guys who’ve been in the college game so long they get this?

“No, I think when you’re at Michigan you understand exactly…we’ve always talked about this, and they understand it already that when you’re at Michigan the expectations are very, very high. Whoever you’re playing, that’s a big game because you have to play up to what’s expected as a Michigan football player, so I think they look at each game that way. I think that everybody’s been around college football enough to understand which are rivalry games and how important each game is.”

MGoQuestion: I know there are tons of variations, but in general what are some keys to a well executed stunt?

“Well, first is coverage. I mean, there’s been a lot of stunts over the years where it’s been a perfect stunt and you see the guy completely free but the ball is out because somebody’s open. I think it’s always coverage first. You know, if the guys are covered he has to hold the ball a little longer.

“It’s every person. When there’s stunts that happen it isn’t just the two guys that are running the stunts. It’s everybody in that front that is executing a stunt, so that where that stunt should come free is allowed to come free and not where the offense can gain a guy somehow. I think those are all things that these kids have worked hard on.”

Who’s hard to score on right now, Jake Arrieta or your defense?

“Jake Arrieta looks like he’d be a great defensive end, doesn’t he? That’s a big guy! I’m a big fan.”