Jim Harbaugh spoke to the media after Michigan's win over Indiana
[Upchurch]

Indiana Postgame Presser: Jim Harbaugh Comment Count

Ethan Sears November 18th, 2018 at 8:58 AM

Things Discussed

  • Chase Winovich and Berkley Edwards injury updates
  • Jake Moody's record-breaking day
  • Michigan plays Ohio State next week. That's a big game!
  • The end of the first half, Michigan's struggles early-on

[After THE JUMP: Some football talk]

Coach Harbaugh, talk about the big record-breaking (Jake) Moody here today. Set a Michigan record. What’s that mean to you and this university, closing out this phenomenal season you had here?

 

“Well, first I’ll say — just to give you an update on Berkley Edwards. Berkley, everything looked good when he left the stadium. He did have a concussion. He had a pretty good-sized concussion. And, looked good when he left here, but he was taken to the hospital for precautions, so we’ll  have later updates there. But was respondent, talking and moving. So, felt good that the doctors have it well under control. Prayers up for him.

 

“Jake Moody, what a performance. You talk about 139 years of Michigan football, just set a record. Six field goals, that was a great job. He learned pregame that it looked like he had to get ready. And he was good. There’s no facial expression change, no body language change. Just went about his business of getting ready. And then same when he was in there kicking. He was making them. No expression. Cool customer — good thing for a kicker. But, really big day for Jake Moody. And Will Hart had a couple, at least, really good holds as well. Cam Cheesman — that whole battery — was working good. Every single field goal was big.”

 

Jim, Chase Winovich, any update on him?

 

“Yeah, things are progressing well with Chase. X-rays were negative here, at the stadium. And took him to the hospital as well, for further test, CAT scan, etcetera. And those came out negative. So, I think we’re in a good place.”

 

And then, what did you see on the play just before the half? Looked like they went to spot the ball, Indiana kid might’ve kicked it or something. Did you have any information on that?

 

“Yeah, not a great one. I asked them — they kicked the ball. And the response, from the umpire, was he didn’t mean to. So I further asked, that doesn’t seem like a judgement call. The ball is either kicked by one of their players or not, in my opinion. So, we’ll wait to — but that was the response. That he didn’t mean to. Had he meant to, that would’ve been.”

 

Jim, the red zone, what was it that led to so many field goals today?

 

“Well, the team moved the ball good. Eight out of 11 scoring drives. And yeah, we were — all six field goals resulted from us being stopped in the red zone.”

 

Jim, just wanted to clarify on Chase. Was it a shoulder or a head, and do you know what your expectations are for him at Ohio State yet?

 

“Well, just to tell you that the x-rays were negative and CAT scan was negative as well. Won’t go into what body part it was.”

 

You guys had some pretty big games here at the Big House this year. Can you sum up what the energy was like between the team and the crowd here this year?

 

“Yeah. It was really good. Got great home support. Wonn all of our home games. I thought it got more supportive as we win every single game. So it was neat. They came up with a few things. Some new things, too. Some of those lights that they were doing, the songs they sing, etcetera. But, tremendous support.”

 

Jim, with what’s looming next week, was this kind of a difficult game just to get through? You of course want to try to be healthy, but just get past Indiana. And, do you feel like your team now is ready for Ohio State?

 

“Yeah, we knew what kind of game this was gonnna beb. The kind of game it always is when we play Indiana. They do a great job, and we’ve had close games with them every time we play them. Two overtime games and two, basically, 10-point — one 10-point, one 11-point game. I thought they did a heck of a jobb. Mike DeBord did a really good job today. I thought his plan was really good. And our guys were just totally into it. Totally locked in and totally focused. Playing as hard as they could, as fast as they could, as long as they could. And, just really — just fighting the whole game. Really proud of our team. We’re in a playoff mode, which, that’s our mindset right now. Playoff wins are big. Against Big Ten teams in late November, huge. Really proud of our team. Thought our guys really played hard, tough and left it out there on the field. Defensively, Devinn Bush had a huge game. Think he had 11 tackles. And Tyree Kinnel is up there. Nine or 10 tackles. Rashan (Gary), nine or 10 tackles. Guys were really playing hard.”

 

First time you’ve been down at the half in a while. Can you talk about, in particular, what your defense did better in the second half to really hold them down?

 

“They did a good job in the first half. We basically knew what kinda game it was gonna be. Really understood it at the half, and made the adjustments. Don (Brown) made some great calls as well. They did a good job. Figured out what they were doing and then made the adjustments in the second half.”

 

Jim, with Jake Moody, a true freshman … do you take time to talk to him a bit? And also, just talk about mentally, what he had to accomplish today

 

“Yeah, it’s just a great accomplishment. He set a record in a program as good as Michigan, that’s been around for 139 years playing football, that’s a huge accomplishment. Just, as a true freshman, it was great. It was — like I said, his demeanor didn’t warrant anything. Didn’t change at all. So, it didn’t look like he needed a pep talk or a Snickers bar or anything. Just, get warmed up and go out there. Didn’t hesitate to give him the chance to do it. And he just kept coming through.”

 

Jim, when did your focus shift to Ohio State, or when does it? And can you give some early thoughts on that game and everything on the line?

 

“Yeah. All those things. Pretty quick, it will. Enjoy this win, this win with our team. These moments. Then shift to Ohio State.”

 

Coach, it’s been now 32 straight years you guys have beaten Indiana. Record set back by Bo (Schembechler). It’s a big day, honoring Bo, 12 years ago. What’s that mean to you, going through your day, just, Bo set this record 31 years ago and now to continue it for 32 years going straight now. What’s that mean to you? Record set by Bo and now you’re continuing going through

 

“Yeah, there was so much on the line, in so many regards. Senior Day, guys playing in their last game at Michigan Stadium. Everything that’s — implications of needing to win the game. In terms of, Big Ten championship, which, Bo — meant a lot to Bo. And all of us. And Jon Falk as our honorary captain. There’s a lot of things motivating the team today.”

 

Why the move to (Andrew) Stueber at right tackle?

 

“Juwann (Bushell-Beatty) came out of the last game. Was working through something and tried hard to go. But felt like Stueber was more — would be more effective. And, hopefully Juwann can get back to 100 percent next week.”

 

And going into the Ohio State game, do you go in with Jake as your kicker?

 

“We’ll see. We’ll see this week.”

 

Next week will be the second time in the last three years that Ohio State-Michigan is a top-10 matchup with playoff implications on the line. Do you feel like that’s living up to the expectations that were set for you when you got here? What does it mean to you to have the rivalry be that kind of nationally relevant game?

 

“Yeah, we’re happy to be in a position — and we’ll do what we do. And that’s get ready for it. And prepare. And expect our team will be really fired up to play. Do what they have been doing every week of this season. Which is playing as hard as they can, as fast as they can, playing as long as they can, playing hard, playing their best, playing for Michigan. That’s what this team has been doing.”

 

Do you feel personally this is kinda what you were expected to do when you came back here?

 

“I don’t really think about that. Peeling back the onion, you know. Peeling back the layers of the onion type of question. Just, proud of our guys. Proud of where they played today. And now, onto the next game. Onto the big game. Onto the championship game. Onward.”

 

Jim, that final drive in the first half, what happened there? You guys didn’t get the points, and the clock ran out

 

“Yeah, you saw what happened. We were driving good and we used our last timeout. About the 28-30 second mark. And then it’s third-and-1. We ran the ball, got the first down, had our second play already called during the timeout. Went to a throw we thought we could hit (Sean) McKeon and get him in the end zone, get him out of bounds, at least. If he didn’t get in the end zone, thought he could get out of bounds. Good play, made a great play on him. Made a great tackle, in the field of play. Clock was moving, so we called to clock the ball to kill it. Kill the clock. There seemed to be some problems getting the ball back in. Whether that was us not giving the ball to the official quick enough, or it seemed that they kicked the ball. I’ll have to look at that. That’s what happened.”

 

Jim, you mentioned earlier, playoff mode. Every game’s a playoff. Has that been that way since Week 2 for you guys?

 

“I don’t know exactly when that seemed to kick in, but, been around for a while. Really the nature of college football. At least the way the Big Ten is, for sure when the Big Ten season starts.”

 

And are you optimistic about Chase next week, or you don’t know yet?

 

“Don’t know.”

 

 

Comments

KennyHiggins

November 18th, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^

A few will quibble with the margin of victory.  Personally, I'm happy as hell with the win, and the mindset of the team, and the Coach.  If Chase can breathe, he'll be playing, and I firmly believe the Revenge Tour will crescendo next Saturday, and force Urban into some tough decisions.  Go Blue!

1VaBlue1

November 18th, 2018 at 9:22 AM ^

Diplomatic towards the refs.  I really hope he's excoriating them through B1G channels.  And hope that Warde is on top of all that.  That crew just sucked ass.

treetown

November 18th, 2018 at 9:32 AM ^

Glad to see Coach Harbaugh had his priorities straight at the press conference. He went straight to the most serious injury - the kid carted off for a cheap shot.

That is why he is a head coach.

xgojim

November 18th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^

About that failure for the refs to call a penalty on the "unintentional" kick of the ball before halftime:  maybe now refs won't be calling penalties for silly, unintentional things like offsides and those never-ending "pass interference" plays.  Of course, targeting is always intentional (depending on the situation, of course).  It was absurd and cost M at least a 7th field goal if not a touchdown.

1201 S. Main St.

November 19th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^

He was kicking the hell out of the ball.  He obviously made all the kicks, but sitting in the stands by the sideline, being unable to see whether it was on target or not, they were boots.  Different than how Nordin has been kicking.  Nordin's kicks this year have been all over the place.  Even when he has made some kicks this year, the ball has a weird spin to it.  They just haven't been "pure".  Accuracy is one thing, but what Nordin has been doing this year has been really odd.  He has the leg to kick it from 60, but he has been terribly inconsistent.  Glad Moody was lights out.

EGD

November 18th, 2018 at 10:07 AM ^

Coach, it’s been now 32 straight years you guys have beaten Indiana. Record set back by Bo (Schembechler). It’s a big day, honoring Bo, 12 years ago. What’s that mean to you, going through your day, just, Bo set this record 31 years ago and now to continue it for 32 years going straight now. What’s that mean to you? Record set by Bo and now you’re continuing going through.

I feel sorry for that reporter's spouse.

"I made Kona Coffee this morning.  Made some coffee and it's Kona.  Kona is the brand of coffee, which is what I made this morning.  Yep.  This morning I brewed a drink and that drink is coffee and the brand of that coffee, which is a drink, is called Kona."

ole luther

November 18th, 2018 at 10:31 AM ^

Funny....thanx for this. Thought the same thing except I don't give a shit about his wife.  Bad enough we have to read it.  This person actually writes for a living???

And, I wish these came with the names of the reporters asking the questions.  I'd contact those who say "talk about" every single time they use it and ask them why they think they deserve a paycheck.

EGD

November 18th, 2018 at 10:47 AM ^

Yeah, I think that's usually where the reporter already knows he or she is going to write and is looking for a HC quote to emphasize a particular point.  

At least there were no "how important is it?" questions this week.  Man, I hate that.  "How important is it that X player did Y thing on Z play?"  "How important is it that your team not suck at [football skill]?"  "How important is it that [miscellaneous good thing happen/bad thing not happen]?"  "How important is it that your team scored more points than the opponent?" "How important is it that football exists?"

As if any coach is ever going to answer, "yeah, that was cool and all, but we'd have won the game even if he'd missed that block/tackle/throw/catch/hole/whatever." 

Arb lover

November 18th, 2018 at 10:14 AM ^

Honest question: any chance the B1G wants to institute a rule allowing an official review (not always, just if the replay booth buzzes down) if there is an on-field injury? I know it might result in "flops" but my guess is not as much as you might think since if you flop, you have to go out for a bit.

I can think of 3 B1G coaches who would oppose such a rule (Dantonio, Meyer, and Allen), but most of the B1G would be behind it, right? Protecting our players should be a priority. Ensuring that players maintain decorum and represent the B1G should likewise be important (looking at you, Delaney). Allowing obvious violations to continue simply because the refs didn't see it at the time seems like a 1980's excuse that really has no place in 2018 CFB with a replay booth being able to easily buz down if it looks like they missed something, and no subsequent loss of time if there is already an injury stoppage. 

To be clear, I'm not talking late hits (1 second after a release or slightly out of bounds), or even intentional roughness (maybe driving that QB into the ground or whatnot). I'm talking about things that have no place in football, whatsoever, like tackling a QB who is already sitting on the ground wrapped up, or taking your 305 lbs and diving on the back of a player laying on the ground, leading with your elbows, once the play has already moved on, or twisting a guy's leg and foot in an attempt to break it, while he is already down. There's "a guy made a poor decision or didn't react to the changing environment fast enough" (okay, maybe 15 yards), vs there's "this guy has no business playing in this game if he's just trying to hurt people after the play" (ejection, please). The B1G doesn't have to ignore the latter, so they shouldn't. 

I think the most likely outcome of this is that fewer people get hurt each year (Chase this year, Speight last year, etc.), that B1G play improves, and thuggish behavior stops. Lets be honest, if it were the NFL, Stepaniak would probably have been fined $50k regardless of whether or not the ref's caught it at the time (not that he will ever get that opportunity). 

Lawyer12

November 18th, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^

Dude, the hit is not late!!  The play is still going on and he’s preventing and All American level player from re-engaging in the play. Watch a football game and tell me if you make it a quarter without seeing this same play at least once.  If you do, it will be the first time ever.  

Don

November 18th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^

"So, I think we’re in a good place.”

There's no need for Harbaugh to release any more information about Winovich than he did, but when a player needs X-rays and CAT scans immediately after a game, I'm sorta skeptical he's "in a good place."

Mattinboots

November 18th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^

Yes and no on the immediacy of it. Yes, not good he needed, but not necessarily bad that it was immediate. They want to diagnose anything ASAP. Why wait when there’s no line like for us regular folk who would wait hours at the doc office for such things?  Rule out what it could be as quickly as possible and focus on the right treatment as quickly as possible. 

jbuch002

November 18th, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^

I'm in agreement here ....... The on field exam probably did not reveal a fracture. This is not a difficult exam unless it is occult (I'll get to that). Next, it's examine a patient to check for an AC joint separation. Even a low grade one is detectable and they had him on the ground long enough to detect one. My guess is they didn't. But I also suspect Chase complained of pain so, next step is an X-Ray. X-ray shows no fracture per Harbaugh. As a precaution, they do a CT with bony windows (as good as an MRI, maybe better) to detect subtle fracture lines that are predictive of an occult one (one that shows up after a few days). Checked good per Harbaugh. That leaves the AC joint. Compression injuries to the shoulder like Winovich suffered from the intention to injure hit, after Chase was on the ground by the IU player typically produce some degree of AC joint sprain or separation. The degree can be detected by an MRI. He'll have that today. We aren't going to know the results so, relax. He'll play (minor sprain) v. osu or he won't (higher degree and greater spearation of the joint). Uche has filled in admirably. Think Gary's injury - confirmed as an ac joint injury, not a labrum tear - and how long it took to get him back. My guess is that Uche starts. 

dragonchild

November 19th, 2018 at 8:08 AM ^

No, they're the crew that ejected Joe Bolden for getting thrown on top of Connor Cook and officiating the "miracle" Sparty finish where they bowled over our long snapper.

They did rob Molester State the next week by allowing a Nebraska receiver to go out-of-bounds, so it seems they're less motivated by agenda and more a very chaotic variable, like weather or a drunk air traffic controller.

Cmoh

November 18th, 2018 at 12:53 PM ^

How Harbaugh handled this is great - both during and after.  He is not taking the bait.

And then, what did you see on the play just before the half? Looked like they went to spot the ball, Indiana kid might’ve kicked it or something. Did you have any information on that?

Yeah, not a great one. I asked them — they kicked the ball. - even handed question. Could have been WTF???

And the response, from the umpire, was he didn’t mean to. - He didn't mean to???? remains calm

So I further asked, that doesn’t seem like a judgement call. The ball is either kicked by one of their players or not, in my opinion. - impeccable logic.

So, we’ll wait to — but that was the response. That he didn’t mean to. Had he meant to, that would’ve been.” - unbelievable self control.

I believe that this team reflects the Head Coach.  He is taking care of his business.  I am certain that Harbaugh and his minions are excoriating these Refs through the "proper channels!"

CoverZero

November 18th, 2018 at 1:02 PM ^

Too bad they did not ask Jim's opinion on kickoffs, and whether the play should be banned or modified to make it a safer play.

Roger K

November 18th, 2018 at 2:21 PM ^

Hi

This is my first post.

I am worried re  the injury issue. Could  you update this for us? Solomon,Winovich Edwards, Bushell-Beatty  others?

 

thx

Roger K

Alumnus93

November 18th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^

am glad he didn't rail on cam jones... let someone else do it.. BUT DO IT... PETITION THE BIG TEN OFFICE... the kid needs to get suspended for the season, and criminal charges filed.. he could have paralyzed Edwards... proof is in that he didn't even look at the runner running RIGHT AT HIM.

Lawyer12

November 18th, 2018 at 2:59 PM ^

The play on Chase was not dirty. This is a play that happens 25 times a game. It’s unfortunate that he was hurt. However, it’s not dirty and we teach out o-line to do the same thing. Every team in the Country does. 

Harlans Haze

November 18th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^

The initial hit that knocked Winovich to the ground was perfectly legal. He happened to find Chase engaged with another player and was able to shove him to the ground. In years past, yes it was perfectly acceptable for an o-lineman to jump on a downed d-lineman to prevent him from rejoining the play. Now, however, I would assume that a player laying on the ground can be considered a defenseless player and any action against him can warrant a penalty. That's why most of the time, now you'll see offensive lineman simply bend over and keep the player shoved down. The Indiana player decided to fall on Winovich with all of his weight. That act itself, might not get flagged by a referee, but it could be considered unnecessary roughness. Remember, last week when Winovich himself (I think) got called for an unnecessary roughness call against the Rutgers QB, for as near as I could tell, simply hitting him too violently. But, when the Indiana player fell on Chase, he CLEARLY drove his knee into Chase as he fell. By any measure, THAT should have been penalized.