Things Discussed

• The defense nearly shutting out Penn State
• Michigan rubbing it in and running up the score
• The team's identity
• Dylan McCaffrey's injury update
• The atmosphere
• Chris Webber's return

[After THE JUMP: Harbaugh takes a phone call]

 

Jim, the drive where you went up 21-0, you had to overcome some adversity. Karan (Higdon) had a 19-yard run, Shea (Patterson) zipped in the touchdown pass. That seemed like a really important —

 

“The 90-yard run?”

 

Yeah

 

“Yeah, that was big.”

 

Talk about what that drive meant to you and your team

 

“Oh, it was big. Coming off our 10-yard line, we talked about it before the drive. We really felt like if we could make that drive there, that’d go a long way to us winning the ballgame. And Shea, again, really was picking up first downs and converting in tough situations. They kept bringing their MIKE backer in the A-gap. Shea made the right read, probably a half-dozen times. Picked us up the yards to move the chains.”

 

Jim, how would you describe Chase Winovich’s performance today?

 

“Awesome. Awesome. Set the tone, he really did, right from the beginning. Got the sack right away and that became a theme in the game. Putting pressure on the quarterback and just not giving him a chance to breathe back there. That was set by Chase.”

 

Coach, how much of a lift does it give your offense when your defense is either scoring or setting in the score like it did today?

 

“Well, it’s just phenomenal play. There was a really impressive team out there tonight, in all phases. I think both — all — special teams, you’ll see some clips of Ben Mason and Tyler Cochran running down on the kickoff. Just as good as they can be. And offensively, defensively, everybody was doing their job. And when everybody’s doing their job, you don’t know who’s gonna get the big play. I think our guys have confidence in themselves and they have confidence in their teammates that somebody’s gonna get it. The good thing about our team is they’re happy for whoever gets that big play. Lotta guys capable of making the big play on our team.”

 

What impressed you the most about your defense and how motivated were your defensive players and you on that last drive to try to get the shutout?

 

“Just every guy. Every guy out there playing really good football, as I said. Maybe it’ll eb Brandon Watson getting the big play, but it might be Lavert (Hill) or (Josh) Metellus or Khaleke (Hudson). David Long makes it and Brandon Watson got another big one, another pick-six. Those are just so huge. The most impressive thing — I mean, there was a lot of impressive things, right? We could do the list of what impresses us on defense. Individual players, you fo down the list of Chase, good to see Rashan (Gary) back out there, secondary was really phenomenal the way they played. Linebackers, Devin Bush … can go right down the roster if you want. All those things are impressive. And you can list them out. The top thing, most impressive thing to me is Don Brown. I’m reminded of the old jingle in the ‘70s, ‘You said Dooooon Brown. You said it all.’ He’s the king. He’s the king of defensive coordinators. Lot of things. Lot of impressive things.”

 

Coach, we’re saying in the media now, the quote-unquote revenge tour, we’re hearing about it. How much do you think your team is starting to buy into it now?

 

“To me, it’s — the way our guys our practicing and just where they’re at, they’re very focused. They’re a team that’s very confident in themselves and in their teammates, too. They’re loose, too. The right amount of loose and focused. Practicing really hard and good. Like where our team’s at.”

 

Jim, because of how last year’s game ended, Penn State trying to score, your team had talked about how they wanted to — they didn’t say payback — but basically wanted to be aggressive right to the very end. Did you sense that? Did you instill that in them in this game? They keep talking about how personal this game was

 

“Yeah. What, how personal it was? They’re personal. Yeah, these are personal. You want to strive for happiness, strive for elation. You want to win. And you want our guys to play well, and they did tonight. And that’s just really impressive. From start to finish, all sides of the ball, that was a really impressive Michigan football team out there tonight. I’m really proud of them. Put an exclamation point on how proud I am of them.”

 

Coach, can you talk about the confidence you’re seeing in Donovan (Peoples-Jones), both on special teams and in the receiving game?

 

“Yeah, Donovan, again, think it — I can’t — everybody’s playing so well on that side of the ball. Quarterback’s playing really well. Karan Higdon’s playing really well. Donovan’s playing really well. Nico (Collins) made the big play. Tarik (Black) made the big play, it was great to see that, although it got called back. Donovan — you just don’t know who’s gonna do it, but they all have the ability to make the big play and do their job really well. Continue to see the way our guys catch the ball, that’s been impressive. I can’t count them — I don’t think we’ve had five drops the whole year. Now we’re close to — we’ve played nine games. That’s unbelievable. We catch the ball, (Zach) Gentry did a great job again catching the ball. Every time we see he makes a catch, he gets a first down, or got the touchdown tonight. But overall, guys that are catching balls for us offensively are doing a tremendous job of creating space, getting open and then making the catch. Donovan, really impressive on the punt returns as well.”

 

Have you seen your team develop sort of a salty identity, where it’s not just winning but winning with a little bit of attitude on the field?

 

“What I see is a really focused team. Really confident team, in themselves and their teammates. I love this about our team: they really like each other, really care for each other, evidenced by how they talk about each other. Even when one of them is getting complimented about something, they have the ability to deflect it to a teammate, somebody else. That speaks volumes to me.”

 

Jim, two weeks ago you guys played the top rush defense, ran the ball, won the game on the ground. Today, you played the best pass rush group in the Big Ten, you protect your quarterback. Your offensive line, where is that at right now? Maybe one of the best in the league?

 

“Just really playing well. That was — we thought that was a really good defensive front. Probably as good as Notre Dame’s, as good as we play all year. And blocked the way they did, a team that really does a tremendous job of tackles for loss. I know they lead in that category. And we were able to stay away from the negative plays, we were able to stay away from the tackles for loss. Able to stay away from the sacks. And Karan had a couple amazing one-yard runs to get that done for us tonight. Then he broke a couple big ones, too. But yeah, you gotta give a lot of credit to the offensive line. I know Warde Manuel watches the offensive line intently, and he thought Juwann Bushell-Beatty had his best game of the season, which is really good, cause we were just saying we thought he had his best game of the season two weeks ago. So, good to see the guys ascending, playing good, playing confident.”

 

The challenge in the offseason for those guys is to take another step. Juwann’s an older guy, (Jon) Runyan is an older guy. Do you see them delivering now, which doesn’t always happen?

 

“Yeah, it’s good for our ballclub. Bodes well for us. All those guys up front really have improved their game. Ed Warinner, a lot of credit. The old ball-coach Ed Warinner doing a heck of a job. Guys up front, they’re just focused every week. Practicing good, staying healthy, doing the job up front.”

 

Jim, when did you know that Rashan was gonna be cleared to play this week, and is he good to go now? Or is this sort of, you keep checking on him week-to-week?

 

“Yeah, the only player I really know that’s gonna be out now is Dylan McCaffrey. He did suffer a broken collarbone in the game, which is too bad. He was doing so well. But he’ll be back. But, little sad about that right now.”

 

Did Chris Webber speak to the team?

 

“Yeah, Chris Webber spoke to the team yesterday.”

 

What was it like having him back?

 

“It was great. He had a tremendous message to the team. It was neat watching all of our guys wanting to get a picture with him afterwards. That was really cool. There’s some guys that, gosh, you play football or (Harbaugh’s phone rings) played basketball 20 years ago, people, they kinda forget you. He’s somebody that — hold on one second.”

 

(Harbaugh picks up his phone and has a conversation for about a minute)

 

Coach, is this team not only beating opponents, or getting better at that, but getting better at wearing them down — your players touched on that — over the course of the game?

 

“Yeah, that’s always a factor in football. The other thing, just, maybe just to change the subject, but since it’s the last question, I wanted to say, our stadium, our fans, it had a different feel tonight. It had, like the old days. It felt like that to me. Just an energized group of fans, student sections. It was like a Saturday at Michigan, in Ann Arbor. The way it’s supposed to be. The way I remember it. At the very highest level. That was an electric atmosphere in there. That’s great. Gives me chills. And I think our team responded to that as well. So, onward. We’ll move on with humble hearts and keep striving to practice with the same kind of focus and intensity and confidence.”