Wednesday Presser Transcript 11-21-12: Brady Hoke

Bullet:

• Desmond Morgan should be back.

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Opening remarks:

“Happy Thanksgiving, number one. I know some of you have turkeys in your ovens so I’ll be brief today. I thought we had a good practice yesterday. I thought our intensity was what it should be when you play Ohio. The way our guys went to work was very industrious. It was a physical day like Tuesdays and Wednesdays are, and I thought our guys did a nice job.”

Will Desmond Morgan play Saturday?

“Yes.”

Is there a different buzz about this week as you’d expect?

“Yeah. Always is. I think is the 109^th time we’ve faced each other. I think that rivalry and just the excitement that follows with it and the passion that people have, I think it spills over.”

The players have talked about driving into the stadium and seeing the fans make … gestures. What’s that like?

“I think when you go to any of those great institutions that have great passion and passionate fans -- I can remember being at Oregon State and going into the Civil War and going down to Eugene. That rivalry, obviously when we go to East Lansing, I think you get the same thing. When you go to Notre Dame. But I think they’re just passionate about their team. They don’t like you, and that’s okay. They’re not supposed to.”

Will you do a walk-through on the field?

“Yeah, we’re going to Friday. We go back and forth a little bit. Most of the time we practice here and go late, but we’re going to do some things in the stadium.”

Do you talk about Nebraska-Iowa on Friday?

“No, not really. I think I mentioned it once. We can control only one thing. That’s the important thing, and that’s going to play our hearts out for our seniors and our hearts out for Michigan on Saturday afternoon at 12:01.”

MGoQuestion: What do you make of Ohio State’s success on special teams this season?

“I think they’ve got good athletes, and that’s where it starts. It always starts there, and I think they’ve done a nice job putting them in the right places to execute and to be successful.”

MGoMootFollowup: Are there ways to counteract their effectiveness?

“Play harder. Play better. Play with better technique.”

How has Denard’s week of practice been?

“Good. It’s been great.”

Doing everything?

“Yes.”

Who are you starting at quarterback?

“It’s day to day.”

Russell Bellomy?

“He’s doing great.”

Is he available to play?

“Oh yeah.”

Is Jack still the backup?

“Jack’s on the travel team with us, yeah.”

Does it change your preparation having a holiday?

“Not really, you know. We’ll change because we’ll practice tomorrow morning, and then at one we’ll have over 500 family members and team having Thanksgiving together. It’s pretty neat.”

What was that like last year?

“Awesome. It’s neat. It’s neat to see all the families.”

How’s Thomas Rawls?

“Great. He’s done a nice job.”

Does he seem ready to shoulder this responsibility? Would Vincent Smith also be in the mix to get some more carries?

“Yeah. Those two. And I don’t know if Thomas has a choice.”

How has he handled that pressure?

“Seems fine. Pretty confident. Most guys who have ability at this level, they’re pretty confident in their abilities.”

Anything you can take from Ohio State’s film from last year?

“Not really. Not from a defensive standpoint besides from the elusiveness that their quarterback has. I think Carlos Hyde, and I don’t even know if he -- played a couple plays, maybe. I don’t think he played much. I know the other guy who’s a back, can’t remember his name right now --”

Boom Herron?

“Boom. Herron was back. But you try and look at the guys that are all a year older, the ones who have played. The offense is obviously a different scheme, but last year’s film really is irrelevant.”

MGoQuestion: James Ross had a good game last Saturday, but a couple times when he tried tackling a bigger back like Mark Weisman he got carried downfield. Is that a concern against someone like Carlos Hyde?

“No. You always tackle really well when you have more than one guy tackling.”

Will Desmond start at that spot?

“We’ll see. Right now they’re competing.”

How many friends and families will you have Saturday?

“I don’t know. Over 500.”

How often do you get to spend with players’ families?

“Not often during the season. Once in a while on a Sunday, once in a while early Friday morning, but not very often.”

Are you going to have over 500 family and friends at the game?

“Who me? Personally? Oh.”

Yeah. I was going to say. You’re more popular than I thought.

“No. No idea. I’m not in the ticket business. Mrs. Hoke handles all those things. She’ll tell me sometime Thursday night over pizza who’s coming.”

You expect to have some people?

“Yeah. We’ll be represented.”